Belgium’s Doku welcomes son during World Cup amid commentator controversy

Jeremy Doku has become a father, the Belgian Football Association announced, days after the player’s plans to leave the FIFA World Cup to attend his child’s birth sparked controversy.

After consultations with medical staff, Doku was allowed to temporarily leave the Red Devils before last Sunday’s game with Iran to join his wife in London, where the couple welcomed a baby boy, Praise, the federation said on Monday.

“Jeremy received the news before yesterday’s match that the birth was imminent,” the team’s doctor, Brahim Hacene, said.

Doku had already been ruled out of Sunday’s match due to illness.

“As he had already been receiving the appropriate medical treatment for several days, he was able to fly without any medical risk to be with his family during this very special moment,” the doctor said.

“Mother, father, and baby are all doing wonderfully,” he added.

Doku, who is to rejoin his teammates in Seattle on Tuesday, is regarded as one of the best young players in the Belgium squad, who have made a solid if unspectacular start to their campaign, drawing both their matches so far.

The 24-year-old had made it clear before the Red Devils’ first match that he would have wanted to be there for the birth of his first child, drawing criticism from some quarters.

Controversial comments

A presenter on L’Equipe TV, the channel of the historic French sports newspaper, questioned the decision, saying that fathers were “useless” at childbirth, whereas hundreds of footballers would have killed to play in a World Cup.

The comments triggered an online storm, forcing L’Equipe to apologise and distance itself from them. The presenter has been stood down from her show.

Doku started in Belgium’s first match against Egypt, but struggled to make an impact before being replaced.

The lacklustre scoreless draw against Iran in Los Angeles drew scorn from Belgian media, which lambasted the team’s performance.

Belgium, who are rebuilding after their “golden generation” showed that age had caught up with them in exiting at the group stage in the 2022 World Cup, can assure themselves of progressing to the last 32 with a win over New Zealand in their final group match on Friday.