Doku’s dilemma: World Cup or birth of his son?

Is it more important to play a football world cup or witness the birth of your first child? The debate is open after that Jeremy Doku he was criticized for asking permission to leave the Belgian retreat early to attend his wife’s birth. The Manchester City attacking winger’s wife, Shireen, is due to give birth to a boy in the second week of July when Doku could still be involved with the Red Devils if they reach the quarter-finals.

“It’s my first child and so I would definitely like to be there,” the 24-year-old justified himself, “if you ask me what I want, the answer is that no one wants to miss the birth of their first child but I also know that in football other situations are evaluated. I know that the Belgian federation supports its players and understands their situations, we’ll see what we can do.”

Media criticism and clash of opinions

The Doku’s possible departure from the United States it divided social media and social media. France Pierron, presenter of the L’Equipe TV channel, said that a father “is totally useless” during the birth of his child while the World Cup “is an incredible joy and there are hundreds of footballers who would kill to be there”. “You’re living a child’s dream,” he added, turning to Doku, “and yet you want to leave to witness the birth of your son, a disgusting moment, if you’ll excuse the expression, in which a father is completely useless.”

The former boxer sided with the City player Brahim Asloumgold medal for France at the 2000 Sydney Olympics: “A child is your whole life,” he said, “when a World Cup is over, it’s over.”

The presenter’s step back and the player’s condition

Pierron herself then made a partial reversal underlining that she had expressed “a personal opinion within a heated discussion in the studio“. “I understand that I may have upset or hurt some of you and I’m sorry, I never wanted to minimize the role of fathers towards their partners or their children.”

Meanwhile, Doku is ill and Belgium has made it known he is not available for Belgium’s second match in the World Cup, against Iran in Los Angeles. In the first drawn match against Egypt, the winger played 86 minutes without shining.