Galatasaray contract dispute grows

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Lindsay Whalen (L) at Galatasaray- Novi Zagreb game. AA photo.

Galatasaray’s American guard Lindsay Whalen has left her team without informing club officials due to unpaid wages.

“Thank you to the fans of Galatasaray!! Your support of the team and players is amazing! Unfortunately because the terms of my contract were not met I felt it was in my best interest to not continue with the organization. Thank you to my teammates and coaches for everything during my time with Galatasaray!” Whalen wrote on her Twitter account, @Lindsay_13, yesterday.

Whalen had not been paid in more than two months, private broadcaster NTV reported.

She was leading Galatasaray with 13.6 points, 4.4 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Murat Özyer, Galatasaray’s basketball branch coordinator confirmed that there had been some problems with payments but “there was nothing that was not solvable.”

“Whalen’s gone but there is a possibility she will come back,” Özyer also told Anatolia news agency.
Also three other American players, Ann Wauters, Sancho Lyttle and Sylvia Fowles, have reportedly given a warning to Galatasaray saying if they were not paid they would leave the team on Feb. 15, claims said.

A similar payment crisis has also occurred on the male team. Milan Maçvan and Boniface N’Dong informed Galatasaray officials they would leave if they were not paid soon, while their managers began holding talks with European teams for possible transfers, according to private broadcaster NTV.

Galatasaray has 3 million euros of debt, the same report said, but these will be discharged by Feb. 22, officials reportedly told the channel.