Samuel Eto'o: FECAFOOT President Declared Biological Father of 22-Year-Old Woman by Spanish Court

Samuel Eto'o: FECAFOOT President Declared Biological Father of 22-Year-Old Woman by Spanish Court

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:56 PM
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  • A woman identified as Adileusa filed a lawsuit in 2018 alleging that Samuel Eto’o was the biological father of her daughter
  • It was alleged that Eto’o met the woman in Madrid back in 1997 when he was on loan at Leganes from Real Madrid
  • Eto’o, who allegedly broke off contact with the woman in 1998, has never engaged the court at any point during proceedings and was absent when a ruling was made on Thursday, February 17

Cameroonian Football Federation President Samuel Eto’o has been declared the biological father of a 22-year old woman by a court in Madrid.

Erika Do Rosario was declared the daughter of Eto’o after court proceedings which the Cameroonian was conspicuously absent from.

The verdict was arrived at on Thursday, February 17 as the legal process that was launched by a woman in 2018 came to an end.

Samuel Eto'o
A woman identified as Adileusa filed a lawsuit in 2018 alleging that Samuel Eto’o was the biological father of her daughter. Photo by Matthias Hangst/Bongarts.
Source: Getty Images

According to the Marca, quoted by The Mirror, the woman who commenced the legal process, identified as Adileusa, met Eto’o at a nightclub in Madrid in 1997.

At the time, Eto’o was on his way to football stardom and was a promising young talent on loan Leganes from Real Madrid.

The retired striker spent the 1997/98 season at Leganes, which is near the Spanish capital of Madrid and netted four goals in 30 appearances.

From the short love affair with Adileusa, the lady discovered in February 1998 that she was pregnant.

As per the lawsuit, Eto’o told the woman that he would “act responsibly with respect to the common child, although he preferred that she did not give birth to the child."

The case continues to state that Eto’o allegedly ignored the woman’s phone calls when she tried to reach out to him on how they were going to raise the baby, and the striker is said to have broken off all communication.

Adileusa eventually gave birth to Erika at the Alarcon Foundation hospital in Madrid in 1999.

By then, Eto’o was on another loan spell, this time at Espanyol in Catalonia.

The former Barcelona striker is said to have not engaged the court at any time during proceedings and did not make a single court appearance.

Following the closing of the case, the court has ruled that Eto’o must now pay the woman €1,400 per month, an amount that will be dated back to when the lawsuit was filed.

Eto’o’s career in numbers

As a player, Eto’o went on to have a successful football career as he established himself as one of the greatest African players of all time.

His career started to take off at Real Mallorca, where he scored 70 goals before joining Barcelona.

After a successful five years with the Catalan giants, Eto’o managed 130 goals in 199 appearances, winning two Champions League in the process.

He moved to Inter Milan where he won another Champions League, bagging 53 goals in two seasons with the Nerazzurri.

Before retirement in 2019, the striker also had spells with Anzhi Makhachkala, Chelsea, Everton, Sampdoria, Antalyaspor and Konyaspor,

At international level, Eto’o scored 56 goals in 118 appearances for Cameroon, winning the Africa Cup of Nations and Olympic gold with his nation in the process.

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Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.
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