Doku

Jeremy Doku says he is “not against” the journalist who criticised his plan to leave the Belgium camp during the World Cup to attend the birth of his first child.

Doku’s wife Shireen was due to give birth during the second week of July and he told Reuters, external before the start of the tournament he intended to leave the camp to be at the birth even if his side were still in contention.

But it brought fierce criticism from L’Equipe channel presenter France Pierron, who labelled a father “completely useless” at the time of their child’s birth.

L’Equipe later apologised and said Pierron’s comments were “very far removed” from its values. The presenter also apologised but was taken off air until the end of the current season of her show.

Doku eventually missed Belgium’s 0-0 draw against Iran in the group stage to fly back to the UK for the birth of his son, Praise.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, external, Doku said he understood why some people questioned the timing of events.

“There was a lot of noise of course,” the Manchester City winger said.

“I can understand why people felt like maybe this was orchestrated because it was too perfect.

“I also saw the journalist speak about me and the situation and all the people getting at her. But I just wanted to use this video as well to really… pray over her.

“I don’t want to come at her in a way that most people did. I don’t want people to be too harsh on her. We don’t know what she has experienced. It’s her opinion.

“She got fired and all these things. I never want this for a person. I’m not against her. I’m not angry at her or anything. She just said her opinion.”

Doku played 86 minutes of Belgium’s opening 1-1 draw with Egypt in Group G of the World Cup before missing their next game, with his absence explained as illness.

A Belgium statement later said, external that the 24-year-old travelled to London to be with his wife “with the approval of and accompanied by one of our team doctors”.

Doku travelled to the UK as a French presenter who said fathers are ‘useless’ at childbirth was stood down from her show.

Jeremy Doku has become a father, the Belgian Football Association announced, days after the player’s plans to leave the FIFA World Cup to attend his child’s birth sparked controversy.

After consultations with medical staff, Doku was allowed to temporarily leave the Red Devils before last Sunday’s game with Iran to join his wife in London, where the couple welcomed a baby boy, Praise, the federation said on Monday.

“Jeremy received the news before yesterday’s match that the birth was imminent,” the team’s doctor, Brahim Hacene, said.

Doku had already been ruled out of Sunday’s match due to illness.

“As he had already been receiving the appropriate medical treatment for several days, he was able to fly without any medical risk to be with his family during this very special moment,” the doctor said.

“Mother, father, and baby are all doing wonderfully,” he added.

Doku, who is to rejoin his teammates in Seattle on Tuesday, is regarded as one of the best young players in the Belgium squad, who have made a solid if unspectacular start to their campaign, drawing both their matches so far.

The 24-year-old had made it clear before the Red Devils’ first match that he would have wanted to be there for the birth of his first child, drawing criticism from some quarters.

A presenter on L’Equipe TV, the channel of the historic French sports newspaper, questioned the decision, saying that fathers were “useless” at childbirth, whereas hundreds of footballers would have killed to play in a World Cup.

The comments triggered an online storm, forcing L’Equipe to apologise and distance itself from them. The presenter has been stood down from her show.

Doku started in Belgium’s first match against Egypt, but struggled to make an impact before being replaced.

The lacklustre scoreless draw against Iran in Los Angeles drew scorn from Belgian media, which lambasted the team’s performance.

Belgium, who are rebuilding after their “golden generation” showed that age had caught up with them in exiting at the group stage in the 2022 World Cup, can assure themselves of progressing to the last 32 with a win over New Zealand in their final group match on Friday.