The Premier League will donate £1 million ($1.2 million) to support relief efforts as European football pays tribute to the victims of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Monday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed more than 22,000 people in one of the region’s worst disasters in nearly a century. Former Chelsea and Newcastle midfielder Christian Atsushiplayer for Turkish club Hatayspor, is still missing.
Premier League chiefs have donated to the Disaster Emergency Committee, which includes various charities. “The Premier League is deeply saddened by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, which have killed thousands of people,” Britain’s top division said in a statement.
“The federation will donate £1 million to the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) to call for the delivery of humanitarian aid directly to those in need.”
Premier League players and officials will wear black armbands during matches this weekend. Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s La Liga, France’s Ligue 1 and Germany’s Bundesliga will all observe a minute’s silence before matches.
In a statement, the Italian football federation said silence would be observed on “every league, with matches scheduled for the weekend (including Monday’s matches)”.
FIGC President Gabriele Gravina said: “The world of football is supporting the victims of the earthquake. We cannot remain indifferent to such a tragedy.”
A minute of silence will also be held ahead of Champions League round of 16 matches and other European knockout matches next week. UEFA announced that it had donated 50,000 euros to groups working in the field of disaster response and gave 150,000 euros to the Turkish football federation.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said: “I would also like to thank our member associations for their prompt and compassionate response and support for those affected by this terrible event. “.
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