Christian Atsu Twasam born 10th January 1992 was a Ghanaian professional footballer who last played for Turkish Süper Lig club Hatayspor and the Ghana national team.
He primarily played as a winger, although he could also be deployed as an attacking midfielder. Atsu was born in Ada Foah, Greater Accra Region. He spent some of his education at the then Feyenoord Football Academy at Gomoa Fetteh, in the Central Region of Ghana which has now been changed to West African Football Academy in Sogakope in the Volta Region of Ghana. He later moved to join Cheetah FC, a club based in Kasoa.
Atsu began his european career with Porto, also spending a season on loan at Rio Ave. In 2013, he was signed by Chelsea for £3.5 million, who subsequently loaned him to Vitesse Arnhem, Everton, AFC Bournemouth and Málaga. After spending the 2016–17 season on loan at Newcastle United, he completed a permanent transfer to the club in May 2017.
A full international with over 60 caps since his debut in 2012, Atsu represented Ghana at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and four Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. He helped the team finish as runners-up at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, in which he also won Player of the Tournament, Goal of the Tournament and was named in the team of the tournament. Married to author Marie-Claire Rupio with whom he had two sons and a daughter.
On 6 February 2023, Atsu went missing in the immediate aftermath of the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake; he was feared to be among those trapped under the rubble of Hatayspor’s headquarters in Antakya following the quake. Subsequent reports were conflicted over Atsu’s fate following the quake, with some reports indicating he had been rescued, while others denied these claims. As of 9 February 2023, no definitive information on his condition and whereabouts was available. On 14 February, Atsu’s agent confirmed two pairs of his shoes had been found, but that Atsu himself had still not been found. On 18 February, confirmation was received by his agent that his body was recovered from the rubble of the building he was residing in. News outlets reported his death at approximately 6am GMT.
Aside from being a wonderful footballer, Christian Atsu was also a very kind-hearted and down-to-earth human whose philanthropic activities were very noticeable. Christian Atsu settled the bail of a blind inmate in Nsawam prison named Peter Enin. Enin was convicted and sentenced to a hefty fine which he failed to pay and had to serve a prison term instead.
Kind Atsu came to his rescue and paid for his release from jail. In 2018, Atsu embarked on a mission to get 10 prisoners freed by paying their court fines. The 10 inmates were found guilty of petty theft after stealing food.
However, the player was able to pay for the freedom of the prisoners at the Cape Coast prison annex. Atsu prevented a mother and her two daughters from spending three months in prison for taking some leftover corn estimated at Ghc 10 which did not belong to them.
A court found them guilty and sentenced all of them including the lactating mothers after being unable to pay a fine of Gc 360 slapped on them.
He came to the rescue of the convicts and through the crime check foundation donated Ghc 1,000 for their release. He donated 80 pair of boots to his former club Cheetah fc in 2021, helped bail 40 inmates, donated hundreds of items to orphanage homes amongst others. His philanthropic works transcended beyond football. The earthquake and aftershocks in southern Turkey and northern Syria are known to have killed more than 40,000 people including Christian Atsu.
Author-Barak Mintah Brown
