"I have nothing to do with drugs,I needed money and I asked a trafficker for it"

Former Roma player Radja Nainggolan, who has been under investigation since January for being linked to a criminal organisation, breaks his silence to defend himself

Former Inter and Roma player Radja Nainggolan, who has been under investigation since January for being linked to a criminal organisation, breaks his silence to defend himself. The controversial player has admitted to asking for a loan of 100,000 euros from a well-known trafficker, Nasr-Eddine Sekkaki, a central figure in an investigation into an alleged international drug network, but denies any involvement in drug-related criminal activities.

"Yes, I asked Sekkaki for that sum, but not to finance illicit trafficking," he said Monday during a television interview with the Belgian program 'Bar Goens'. "The reason? He needed liquidity. My accounts had been frozen due to my divorce and I had accumulated gambling debts."

The Prosecutor's Office hypothesized that the player could be involved in a network of money laundering and financing of criminal activities, something that Nainggolan continues to categorically reject: "It was not them who needed money, it was me. I asked for help with a personal situation. There has never been any connection with drug trafficking. People read certain things in the newspapers and believe that I am linked to a drug trafficking case."