Calhanoglu blames father for 4-month ban
Agence France-Presse
33m ago
SERGIO PEREZ / Reuters
Berlin – Hakan Calhanoglu says his father will never again be involved in his career as the Turkey international and Bayer Leverkusen star begins his four-month ban for breach of contract.
The 22-year-old, Leverkusen’s joint top-scorer with six league goals, is effectively banned for all bar the last few weeks of the season after Thursday’s decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Leverkusen, ninth in Germany’s top flight, will be without its goal-scoring winger for the season’s key phase – starting with Friday’s German league match at Hamburg.
The club faces Atletico Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League in three weeks time and must finish in the top four to qualify for Europe’s top competition.
On Thursday, CAS, which is based in Lausanne, upheld a previous ruling by FIFA from Jan. 2016 which found Calhanoglu guilty of breach of contract.
In 2011, while still a teenager, the German-born forward signed a preliminary contract with Turkish side Trabzonspor, even though he had just signed an extension deal with Karlsruher.
As well as the suspension Calhanoglu was ordered to pay Trabzonspor €100,000 in compensation.
In its ruling, CAS rejected the player’s appeal against both the ban, which was suspended pending the outcome of the appeal, and the fine.
In an interview with Cologne newspaper Express, Calhanoglu explained the background.
“In our culture, the father has the say. I was 17 years old and not aware of the scope (of his actions),” he told the newspaper having stayed at home for the verdict from Switzerland.
“I heard by accident from a friend that my father had met a representative from Trabzonspor at a restaurant in Darmstadt.
“My father came home and said ‘Hakan, you must sign the contract’.
“He knows that he made a bad mistake and it makes him sad.
“He is my father and remains my father, but he will never be involved in my career again.”
After a two-year spell with Karlsruher, the attacking midfielder moved to topflight Bundesliga side Hamburg for a season before joining Leverkusen in 2014.
With Calhanoglu now unavailable, Leverkusen need star striker Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez fit again after suffering a groin injury.
New signing Leon Bailey, 19, has yet to make his debut after signing from Belgium’s Genk for €12 million on Tuesday.
