In February 2022, after three years of court proceedings, Samuel Eto’o was sentenced to recognize his daughter Erika do Rosario Nieves. The Court of First Instance No. 83 of Madrid, in which the former Cameroonian soccer player did not appear, then concluded on the basis of biological tests that he was the biological father of the young woman. But this judgment did not end the disputes between father and daughter, which now seem to have come to an end, as both parties reached an agreement after more than five years: he had to pay his daughter around 90,000 euros in pension without maintenance, as he was said announced this Tuesday, July 11.
As Erika do Rosario’s lawyer, Fernando Osuna from Seville, explained to EFE, after a negotiation that ended this week with the deposit of the agreed money into the current account of the young woman of 24 years, the two parties have reached a “satisfactory” Agreement reached and after intensive negotiations between the lawyers of both. “Erika was very sorry to have to file a lawsuit against her father. It was difficult to make this decision, but it was the only way to claim her rights,” the attorney said in a statement. He adds: “Eto’o’s daughter was in a precarious situation, unemployed and hurt by what happened.” With this agreement, Erika Do Rosario Nieves has withdrawn the two ongoing court cases, the criminal and the civil.
More information
The story dates back to 2018, when the young woman filed a lawsuit in a court in Madrid for the former soccer player to recognize her paternity. In order to conduct the proceedings, the young woman presented biological evidence to support her statement, which led the judge to allow the lawsuit, although the former Real Madrid and Barça striker had never complied with the court’s requirements. Samuel Eto’o met Adileusa do Rosario in a nightclub in the Spanish capital in 1997 when the player was a member of CD Leganés, after introducing her to a mutual friend. As Fernando Osuna has now explained, the young woman’s mother told the then-soccer player in February 1998 that she was pregnant and he “told her that he would act responsibly in relation to their child, although he preferred that she.” “During the pregnancy, attempts were made to communicate with the future father, but he did not answer his calls or e-mails,” said the lawyer, who assured him that he would be informed of the upcoming confinement by phone without receiving an answer from you.The girl was born in the Hospital Fundación Alcorcón in the city of Madrid in 1999, when the footballer was already a member of RCD Espanyol.And the player never recognized her.
It was only in a hearing in 2020 that Erika do Rosario Nieves was awarded the maintenance pension (1,400 euros per month) that is now being claimed. In the most recent lawsuit filed, Eto’o was asked about the outstanding payments and considered seeking a 12-month jail term for the former player, who has previous criminal records, such as a prison sentence of less than two years for tax offenses and non-payment was granted pensions to another daughter living in Italy, who was recognized as his daughter by a court in Palma (Mallorca) in 2004.
Erika do Rosario and her mother, Adileusa do Rosario, arrive at the Madrid court in July 2019.Josefina Blanco (Europa Press via Getty Images)
“Erika is doing very badly,” Osuna explained in a telephone conversation with EL PAÍS in September 2021. “She can hardly finance her studies, complete her teaching degree and works in pizzerias, bars, cafeterias… .while he watched his father do it , as he lived in the upper segment. He has a large fortune and it would not be difficult for him to take care of her,” the lawyer said at the time.
Fernando Osuna, a regular advocate for this type of celebrity paternity claim – most recently in the case of the acknowledged brother of Koplowitz, who is now claiming part of his inheritance in Strasbourg – has drawn attention to the settlement reached between the parties on this matter, saying ” other parents” who find themselves in the same situation, “not to shirk their responsibilities and try to make agreements with their children because they cannot take responsibility for the mistakes of the past, and today the judiciary is aware of this very aware of problems.” Kids always win these cases.”
In addition to the two daughters recognized by the court, Samuel Eto’o has three children with his current wife, Georgette Eto’o, and two other children from other relationships. Eventually he had another son with María Ángeles Pineda, who in July 2018 demanded €16,400 from him for non-payment of child support.