Messi, Iniesta won't play in Turkish friendly amid coup

Defending La Liga champion Barcelona released a statement Friday evening concerning the military coup in Turkey, with several of its marquee stars scheduled to play a friendly in the country.

Former Barca star Samuel Eto'o organised a friendly match slated for Saturday in Antalya to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his charity foundation.

The club announced that Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta, two former teammates of Eto'o's, were both still in Spain and have cancelled plans to fly to Turkey for the match.

Barcelona released a statement confirming the safety of Iniesta and Messi, and elaborated on Turkish international midfielder Arda Turan and former players Carles Puyol, Deco and Eric Abidal, who are in the country but far from the conflict.

Military forces made an attempt late Friday to overthrow President Recep Erdogan's government, with tanks occupying streets in the capital of Ankara as protesters attempted to block their progress. A local television station was also seized by the organized coup.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildrim conceded early Saturday morning that the situation was largely under control despite reports that there was fighting on the streets of Istanbul.

Other Barcelona stars Neymar and Luis Suarez were slated to take part, joining the likes of Francesco Totti, Michael Essien, Xavi, Eden Hazard, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Didier Drogba as those confirmed to play in the match honouring Eto'o's foundation.