While speakinh exclusively to French magazine, So Foot, 33-year-old Togo star, Emmanuel Adebayor revealed that his family repeatedly drove him to the brink of suicide, adding that they tormented him with non-stop pleas for money while not caring about his wellbeing.
According to The Sun UK, the former Arsenal and Manchester City star said; “I felt like killing myself so many times. I kept this to myself for years and years.
“I am disgusted that things reached this stage, but I feel relieved to have talked about it. My football career will be finished in three or four years. By contrast my family name will remain with me – together with these people.
“Things are hard to bear when you are working hard to lift your family our of poverty, but they are still opposed to you.
“I have always told my younger brothers that we have been manipulated by our families. I often change my phone number so that my family can’t contact me.
“They call me, not to ask how I am, but to demand money. That was the case after I injured my hamstring while with Tottenham.
“They rang me while I was having a scan to ask me if I could pay a kid’s school fees. At least ask me first how I am before you do this!”
Adebayor who is now with Turkish club, Istanbul Basaksehir after a brief spell with Crystal Palace and is currently the all-time top scorer for the Togo National team, also said that he had a difficult year after ratng his move to Palace as the “only mistke” he made during his Premier League career.
He told French football newspaper L’Equipe last month: “I truly experienced some beautiful moments in England, at the heart of the country’s best teams. I was happy over there, and my family was as well.
“The only mistake I made was to sign for Crystal Palace in January 2016. I made the decision to please my advisers. They were telling me: ‘Manu, you’ve got to get back playing again!’. But it is definitely the worst decision I have made in my entire career.”
