Birmingham’s Moussi pledges to donate salary to charities, Turkish miners' families

ISTANBUL

Guy Moussi, French footballer who recently signed a short-term deal with Birmingham City, has said he will donate all of his wages to four charities, including one that raises money for the families of 301 miners who lost their lives in Turkey’s worst ever industrial disaster on May 13. 

The French midfielder was a free agent after he left Nottingham Forest in May, but signed with Birmingham City after a trial period at the second tier English league club.

Moussi said he will split his wages between the Birmingham City Disabled Supporters Club, Stop Ebola, a Paris church and the TEV Soma Charity in Turkey.

Daily Hürriyet reported that the 29-year-old player could get 300,000 pounds for his contract, which lasts until Jan. 18, and his agents Muzzi Özcan and Burhan Aytaç have also decided to donate their share of the transfer.

“I closely watched the Soma disaster, I was deeply hurt and decided to offer humanitarian aid to people there,” Hürriyet quoted Moussi as saying.

On its official website, Birmingham City confirmed that its new man “will not be receiving a penny of his wages” and described the move as “a wonderful touch from Guy.”

“We knew Guy was out of contract and we invited him over to train for a week and he did quite well,” the website of football magazine FourFourTwo quoted Birmingham boss Gary Rowett as saying.

“We then got him over for another week just to make sure. It was a tough week [of training] and he got through all of that. He’s a big strong defensive midfielder and we feel that’s something we haven’t got so we’ve agreed a short-term deal to bring him in and that’s reflected in what we’ve offered financially,” Rowett added.