Former Arsenal and Sunderland defender Emmanuel Eboue has finally opened up about his imposed one-year FIFA ban from football.
The 33-year-old is currently prohibited from participating in any football activity after failing to pay a reported nearly €1 million (approx. $1 million) debt to his former agent, Sebastien Boisseau.
Speaking to SFR Sport, Eboue described the situation as one “like being in prison” adding that not being allowed to play or even train with any football club, is very frustrating for him.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”I have lost one year of my career. If I don’t play, I don’t have an income. So, let me play, and when I have something, I’ll pay my ex-agent.[/perfectpullquote]
“Sometimes when you’re lying in bed and you think about that problem, you sometimes have bad things coming into your mind. It’s very, very hard because they stopped me from doing my work.
“They broke my dream down and they damaged everything. It was hard, to be honest, it was very, very hard.
“People that know me very well, when they see me, they know straight away that I’m not happy. I’m trying to laugh, to make people happy, but inside me, it’s hard.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“I never thought this would happen to me, but it’s real life. Anything can happen in real life.”[/perfectpullquote]
The debt came from Eboue’s move to Galatasaray from Arsenal in 2011 where he played for four years before becoming a free agent in the summer of 2015.
Early March, in a last-gasp effort to revive his career, Eboue joined English side Sunderland on a short-term deal but couldn’t play a single game for the side since the FIFA ruling came into effect, late in March.
Eboue was released by the Premier League that same month and has been struggling both financially and economically ever since.
Despite appealing to CAS against FIFA Disciplinary Committee’s decision, Eboue’s appeal was dismissed therefore upholding the one-year ban.
Featured photo: Getty Images
