A 26-year-old football player for Turkey’s Eskişehirspor club, Ediz Bahtiyaroğlu, died on Tuesday night in Eskişehir province in central Anatolia.
In a affirmation posted on their website, Eskişehirspor told that Bahtiyaroğlu passed away on Tuesday night and details about his passing would be shared with the public later on Wednesday. The press spokesperson for Eskişehirspor, Erdal Şahbaz, told Bahtiyaroğlu may have passed away due to a heart attack but that it wasn’t certain yet. The cause of his dying will be better-known after an autopsy is actioned by the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK).
Eskişehirspor’s club doctor, Aytekin Aydın, told Bahtiyaroğlu had a gene which pre-disposed him to heart problems and that 4 of his family members had passed away from heart attacks.
Bahtiyaroğlu attended a training session with his team on Tuesday evening and later went home. After Bahtiyaroğlu started to feel unwell, his girlfriend called the 112 emergency hotline and called for help. A paramedic team was dispatched to Bahtiyaroğlu’s house, but the footballer passed away before they came.
Bahtiyaroğlu was a Bosnian football player who moved to Turkey at the age of 10 and had gained Turkish citizenship. Before coming to Eskişehirspor, he played for Turkish football clubs Ankaraspor, Ankaragücü and Bucaspor.
After being capped 11 times for Turkey’s U-21 side, it was affirmed in January 2010 by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s national team manager, Safet Susic, that Bahtiyaroğlu had contacted the football player concerning the possibility of playing for Bosnia and Herzegovina. On Feb. 5, 2010, Bahtiyaroğlu affirmed that he would play for the Bosnia and Herzegovina team.
