Barca’s Turkish playmaker Arda Turan has been handed a near three-year suspended jail sentence after being found to have discharged a firearm in a medical facility following an argument with a singer.
Turan, who is currently on loan at Istanbul Basaksehir, got into a physical altercation in a hospital last year with Berkay Sahin in which the musician was left with a broken nose. The 32-year-old footballer later returned to the scene with a gun, which he shot at the floor.
His near three-year sentence comes amid charges for causing panic, illegal possession of weapons and causing intentional injury. He was handed a sentence of two years and eight months, though he will not spend time behind bars unless he is found to have committed another crime in the next five years.
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The player has been fined 2.5 million Turkish lira ($430,000) by Istanbul Basaksehir as a result of the incident.
Reports state that the incident began at an Istanbul nightclub when Turan made advances towards Sahin’s wife, after which Turan attacked Sahin and broke his nose.
He was taken to hospital for surgery in a nearby hospital where Turan later showed up reportedly asking to be forgiven. He shot his weapon at the ground which is understood to have caused widespread panic at the scene.
Turan apologized for his actions via an Instagram post on Wednesday, saying (via translation): “I learned lessons from these events. My greatest aim is to make my family, my dear wife, my club and friends proud.”
He also asked for forgiveness for what he described as a “momentary mistake“.
Turan is the fourth most capped Turkish player in history and joined Barcelona from La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid in 2015. However, he failed to make a major impact at the Camp Nou and was shipped out on loan to Istanbul Basaksehir in 2018.
He was given a 16 match ban (later reduced to 10) in May of last year for pushing an assistant referee after disagreeing with a decision.
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