Christian Atsu among the thousands still missing after earthquakes in Turkey and Syria

Conflicting reporting is nothing new in the world of football, but usually it concerns such relatively unimportant matters as transfer rumors or training ground gossip. It’s a much bigger issue when it concerns a literal matter of life or death, such as in the case of Christian Atsu, who remains missing after last week’s devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Reports last week claimed that Atsu had been found and taken to hospital, and the same information was released by Atsu’s club, Hatayspor as well. But as it turns out, those reports were unfounded, and the 31-year-old’s whereabouts remain unknown.

Atsu’s family and management have launched an urgent plea for more support and resources today — especially from local and national authorities — having located some of Christian’s personal belongings but not yet the exact room he was staying in at the time of the earthquake now nine days ago. Time is obviously critical, with thermal imaging apparently showing signs of life still, some 200 hours after the event.

And Atsu’s just one of a thousand, if not tens of thousands of cases like this. The death toll from the pair of earthquakes last Monday has now risen to over 37,000, with many more injured, hundreds of thousands displaced, and millions affected. It’s the worst natural disaster in over 100 years in the region. Rescue efforts, with international support, have been slowed by various outside factors as well.

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