Cameroon international Samuel Eto’o is facing a new court paternity lawsuit over an alleged lovechild now 20 years old.
Cape Verde-born Adileusa do Rosario Neves is fighting to have the former Chelsea and Barcelona striker recognised as the father of her 20 year old daughter Erika.
Adileusa’s lawyer Fernando Osuna confirmed on Tuesday that the hearing would take place at a Madrid court on April 24.
The lawsuit presented by Adileusa says she fell pregnant after meeting Eto’o – now playing for Qatar SC – in a nightclub in the Spanish capital in 1997 when he was at Leganes on loan from Real Madrid.
She claims Eto’o, 37, who has six recognised children with four different women including his wife Georgette, told her he would ‘act responsibly’ soon after she broke the news but then cut off all contact with her.
Erika was born in November 1999 in a hospital in the Spanish capital. It was not immediately clear on Tuesday if Eto’o has agreed to a voluntary DNA test.
Adileusa’s lawyer Fernando Osuna, who has been fighting to get veteran crooner Julio Iglesias to admit he is the father of a 40-year-old Spaniard, said when he launched his court fight against Eto’o that he would ask for a DNA sample.
Osuna said the court would decide after the hearing whether it agreed to Erika’s request for a maintenance allowance as an interim measure while it continues to study the paternity claim
He said: ‘Samuel Eto’o has been summoned to the hearing and it will be open to the press and public.
‘It’s not yet clear if he will attend as he is abroad. He has been asked to attend by a legal representative he had when he was living in Majorca.