In May 2022 and after four years of judicial struggle, Erika do Rosario managed to have the court formally recognize her affiliation as the daughter of former soccer player Samuel Eto’o, who has always ignored her. In 2020, the judge already set for her, her firstborn, a maintenance pension of 1,400 euros per month that the Cameroonian ignored in the same way as the very existence of the young woman. Finally, an out-of-court agreement puts an end to Erika’s battle for her rights: Eto’o has already paid the amount owed, around 90,000 euros.
Erika’s lawyer, 23 years old and with a degree in Teaching, is Fernando Osuna, a recognized specialist in the thorny issue of those who evade their responsibility as a parent: “We have been talking for many weeks with the lawyer of the other party, a very dialogue person, and that has favored reaching this agreement by which Mr. Eto’o has agreed to pay the debt since we filed the lawsuit in 2018”. His reluctant attitude pushed Samuel Eto’o into a situation of crime of non-payment or family abandonment: he was summoned before the judge and he refused to appear until he finally testified by videoconference. That was the beginning of the negotiations and after the happy result, Erika has requested the archive of the criminal and civil proceedings.
A native of Cape Verde, Adileusa do Rosario met the footballer in 1998, when he moved to Madrid on loan from RCD Espanyol. She was 17 years old, they started dating and she got pregnant. “Samuel broke up as soon as I told him. Even so, I showed up at a training session so that I could meet her. She was 15 days old. She took me aside and she promised me that she would take care of her. I never heard from him again.” Erika found out who her father was days before she turned 18. It was when the young woman decided to go to court.
“Erika is very happy because financially she was in very bad shape. This money will help her while she finds a job. She also her mother. Her family situation is not easy and now they can breathe a little. Osuna explains that Samuel Eto’o has not shown any personal interest in meeting his daughter. Perhaps this ex-soccer player’s surrender to his duties is the revulsion that shook Manuel Benítez ‘el Cordobés’ and Carlos Baute, whose filiation demands Osuna brought: “Hopefully there will also be a harmony between the father and the daughter and a series of contacts begin . It is desirable and it has happened on other occasions with famous and also anonymous parents. Asked directly if Erika would like to meet her father, this is how the lawyer answers: “Yes, that’s right. She’s a lovely girl, she doesn’t have a grudge or an iota of malice; she is a very positive and optimistic person in life”.
This is not the only pending account of Eto’o with his descendants: Annie Eto’o Barranca (21) was recognized by a court in Palma in 2015 and is also still waiting for her pension, while Etienne Eto’o (20), soccer player Like his father, he has seen his affection come and go for years, although after some difficult and cold times, in recent months the Cameroonian seems to have gotten closer again.
