Fredrik Gulbrandsen is very lucky to be alive. The Norwegian attacker, employed by Adana Demirspor, made this known in a message that he published on his Instagram account.
Gulbrandsen was sleeping on the top of the fifteen floors in the apartment building in Adana where he lives. “I was sure this would be the end for me. As I crawled across the floor and tried to get lower into the building, I was sure the floor would collapse under me. I still don’t understand how the building is still standing.’
The attacker, a three-time international from Norway, goes into more detail. “There was so much movement, it felt like I was on a boat in the middle of a bad storm. When I came out, I saw people running out of their buildings terrified. I have been very, very lucky,” says Gulbrandsen, who encourages the horribly large group of people for whom the drama ended badly.
Gulbrandsen’s statement
The statement goes even further. “I want to say something else. There are thousands of people here who are dead or yet to be found. The Turkish Süper Lig has decided to postpone for one week. A week! I can’t imagine how we can play football while so many people are fighting for their lives. I still have flashbacks from that night, I’m traumatized to say the least.”
“Fortunately I was alone, without my girlfriend. I’m so glad she wasn’t there. I wanted to be the first to be with my family, who are 1500 kilometers away. I’m writing this because it seems like people don’t understand how traumatizing it is, even if you survive,” he ends.
Gulbrandsen now plays in Adana. In his own country he played for Lillestrøm and Molde, and in America for the New York Red Bulls, as a rental player for the Austrian Red Bull Salzburg. Via Istanbul Basaksehir he ended up at his current club.
Hatayspor withdraws from the Süper Lig
Sticking with the effects of the earthquake in Turkey, Hatayspor has withdrawn from the Süper Lig. The club is located in the affected province of Hatay.
It is expected that Gaziantep FK will also withdraw. Mehmet Büyükeksi, president of the Turkish Football Federation, has stated that the clubs can expect support. “We will continue with seventeen clubs, with the condition that the rights of these two clubs will be preserved.”
There are plans to transfer the players of both clubs to other Turkish clubs, so that Hatayspor and Gaziantep FK do not have to bear that financial burden. The resumption of the Turkish league has been postponed to the first weekend of March.
