21-year-old daughter of ex-Barcelona forward Eto’o opens legal case against him

Former Barcelona, Real Madrid, Real Mallorca and Inter forward Samuel Eto’o has been in the headlines often since taking charge of the Cameroon FA, and often for the wrong reasons. The four-time African footballer of the year is facing a legal case in Italy though, after his estranged daughter accused him of not paying maintenance.

Annie, 21, was born as fruit of an affair with Anna Maria Barranca in 2002, in Padova in Italy, but Eto’o was never part of her life. In 2015, a judge recognised Annie as his daughter following a DNA test, and Eto’o agreed to pay Barranca €10k in child maintenance. In exchange, they would drop the legal case against him.

Living in Italy, Marca report that Annie has submitted a legal complaint over unpaid child maintenance, alleging that Eto’o did not keep his word. Annie is now an adult, but is studying and still dependent on her mother, who is struggling to make ends meet.

The last time Eto’o’s name was in the headlines was to do with a match-fixing scandal in Cameroon. Other members of the FA accuse him of using referees to influence results in the second division in Cameroon, while Eto’o also drew attention after hitting a YouTuber at the Qatar World Cup last year, alleging that he was being harassed.