The Turkish World Cup King Has Become an Uber Driver

The nickname “Bull of the Bosphorus” is a tribute to the glory days. There is another nickname that leaves no doubt about the importance of Hakan Sukur, 51, in Turkey: the king.

He is the top scorer in the history of the country, 51 goals for the national team. He was the star of the team that in 2002 reached third place in the World Cup, beaten in the semifinal by Ronaldo’s beak kick. In the dispute for third place, against South Korea, he scored the fastest goal in the history of the World Cup, at 10.8 seconds.

Sukur led Galatasaray to the 2000 UEFA Cup title. The goalkeeper was Brazilian Taffarel. Never before had a Turkish club won a continental title.

He was the most recognizable face in the country. Unanimity as a player and commentator on TV. Such popularity made him elected deputy for the conservative Justice and Development Party in 2011.

The king now lives in exile in California, in the United States. He knows that if he returns to his native country, he will be arrested, likely sentenced to life in prison or, who knows, to death. In the last interview he gave, to a German newspaper, in 2020, he said he survives as an Uber driver.

As a centre-forward, Sukur is still the most important name in the history of national football and has also played in Italy (Torino) and England (Blackburn Rovers). He was so popular that he was respected by fans of Fenerbahce and Besiktas (rivals of Galatasaray). His wedding was one of the most attended and luxurious ever seen in the country.

In one of the photos taken that night, he is next to the President of the Republic, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Islamic leader Fethullah Gulen, of whom he is a follower.

This would be your doom. When Erdogan decided to close the schools that taught Gulen’s doctrine, Sukur resigned his seat in parliament in protest. By defeating a coup d’état in 2016, the president unleashed his fury on the religious’s followers. Among them, the old idol.

In November 2017, the attacker fled to the United States. In absentia, he was convicted of offending Erdogan with a Twitter post. He is also accused of financially aiding the coup attempt – something Sukur has always denied.

His father is in prison in Istanbul on the same charge and the former athlete knows he is unlikely to see him again.

Upon moving to the United States, he was caught in a lavish lifestyle. He rented a comfortable home in Palo Alto, California, and drove expensive automobiles. He also opened a restaurant, which he said was his old dream.

It didn’t last. The Turkish government froze their assets and bank accounts. Sukur had to look for alternatives to support himself and started working as a driver.

For Galatasaray, he won 14 national league titles in a football fanatic country. Erdogan likes to use sport to lash out at other countries. He befriended German Metsul Özil, the 2014 world champion, and midfielder with Turkish roots.

When the player complained, after leaving the national team, that he suffered prejudice, Erdogan posted a message of support for Özil that said “your president is here.”

It was a tribute that would normally be reserved for Hakan Sukur, the king. But nowadays, no more.

It didn’t help that he once said that he considered himself more Albanian than Turkish. The statement was used extensively by the regime’s supporters.