By Chris Wright
It often looks as though his head is miles away on the rare occasions he makes it into the first-team, but if Emmanuel Adebayor’s latest Facebook post is anything to go by, you can forgive the Tottenham striker for being a tad distracted.
It’s been well documented over recent years that Adebayor has been struggling with multiple issues at home in both Togo and Ghana – even going as far as ostracising his mother last year for allegedly using “juju” (African witchcraft) to sabotage his career.
Writing in a post on his verified Facebook page, Adebayor has now detailed the extraordinary plight he’s been through with various members of his family since he first turned pro as a 17-year-old.
The Spurs striker begins by admitting that he feels uneasy about airing his dirty laundry in public but notes that he hopes his tale can serve as a lesson for other warring families out there, before going on to list the myriad headaches his problematic ‘nearest and dearest’ have caused him over the years.
“I have kept these stories for a long time but I think today it is worth sharing some of them with you.
“It’s true that family matters should be solved internally and not in public but I am doing this so that hopefully all families can learn from what happened in mine.”
On his brothers:
“My brother Kola Adebayor, has now been in Germany for 25 years. He travelled back home about 4 times, at my expense. I fully cover the cost of his children’s education. When I was in Monaco, he came to me and asked for money to start a business.”
“Only God knows how much I gave him. Where is that business today?
“When our brother Peter passed away, I sent Kola a great amount of money so he could fly back home. He never showed up at the burial.
“And today that same brother (Kola) is telling people that I am involved in Peter’s death. How? He is the same brother who went and told inaccurate stories about our family to “The Sun” in other to take some money.
“They also sent a letter to my Club when I was in Madrid so I could get fired.
“When I was in Monaco I thought it would be good to have a family of footballers. So I made sure my brother Rotimi gets into a football academy in France. Within a few months; out of 27 players, he stole 21 phones.”
About not being allowed to visit his brother Peter while he was dying:
“I was in Ghana when I received the news about my brother Peter being seriously ill. I drove the fastest I could to Togo in order to meet him and help.
“When I arrived, my mother said I could not see him and I should just give the money and she would solve everything.
“Only God knows how much I gave her that day. People are saying I didn’t do anything to save my brother, Peter. Am I a fool to drive 2 hours to Togo for nothing?”
On attempting to sort of the family’s issues:
“I organized a meeting in 2005 to solve our family issues. When I asked them about their opinion, they said I should build each family member a house and give each of them a monthly wage.”
On planning for the future:
“Today I am still alive and they have already shared all my goods, just in case I die.”
Sound like a positively lovely bunch, don’t they?
Here’s the Facebook post in full…
Blimey, Christmas at the Adebayors’ must be a bloody riot.