@objektifdegilim/TwitterAs two Turkish football teams came together for a friendly to raise money for cancer, people were shocked to see ‘a child’ smoking in the stands.
Or so it appeared. Turkish clubs Bursaspor and Fenerbahce decided to take advantage of the international break by arranging a game, with all proceeds donated to organisations that fight against diseases like leukaemia and foundations that support kids with Down’s syndrome and autism.
As seen on beIN Sports, the camera came away from the Timsah Arena’s pitch in Bursa and panned to the audience, where a seemingly fresh-faced youngster was seen puffing a cigarette.
Check out the video below:
Fenerbahçe ve Bursaspor'un çocuklar için düzenlediği maçtaki görüntüye bak ahdsahjadshjajhajh pic.twitter.com/2WPsqTpLrU
— Nikola (@objektifdegilim) September 8, 2019
In the video posted by @objektifdegilim, the young fan sat next to the ‘child’ seemed to be completely oblivious to the close-by tobacco fumes.
As the ‘Green Crocodiles’ claimed a 2-1 win over Fenerbahce, Twitter descended into a manhunt: the clip was shared across multiple accounts as users tried to uncover the identify of the ‘smoking boy’.
So who is the child at the centre of the controversy? Where were his parents when he decided to light up in the middle of a game?
Plot twist: the young boy is, in fact, a 36-year-old dad.
According to Instagram account @yureginikoyortaya, the man – who has not yet been named – had brought his child along to the game.
Twitter users responded to the news with a mixture of hilarity and jealously. One person called him ‘Benjamin Button’, while another wrote he had ‘took the water from the fountain of all youth’.
Other users dubbed the whole story ‘impossible’ and ‘bizarre’.
Although his dramas may not be over: smoking is banned in all public places in Turkey, including sports stadiums.
It can carry a fine of 69 Turkish lira – equivalent to £13 – but there is no confirmation as to whether the ‘boy’ was caught by police.
Please let me remind you that smoking is not, I repeat not, an appropriate way to retain your youthful appearance.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.