In May 2022 and after four years of legal battle, Erika do Rosario got the court to formally recognize her parentage as the daughter of ex-footballer Samuel Eto’o, who has always ignored her. In 2020, the judge already set for her, his eldest daughter, an alimony of 1,400 euros per month which the Cameroonian ignored, as did the very existence of the young woman. Finally, an out-of-court settlement puts an end to Erika’s battle for her rights: Eto’o has already paid the amount she owed, around 90,000 euros.
The lawyer for Erika, 23 years old and a teacher, is Fernando Osuna, a recognized specialist in the difficult case of those who evade their responsibility as a father: “We have been talking with the lawyer of the opposing party for many weeks , a person who talks a lot, and this has helped us reach this agreement that has made Mr. Eto’o pay what he was due since we filed the lawsuit in 2018.” His unenthusiastic attitude pushed Samuel Eto’o to a situation of non-payment or family abandonment: summoned by the judge, he refused to appear, until he finally testified by video conference. This was the beginning of the negotiations and after the happy ending, 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, they started dating and she got pregnant. “Samuel broke up with me when I told him. Even so, I attended a training session so that I could meet her. He was 15 days old. He took me aside and promised to take care of it. I never heard anything from him again.” Erika found out who her father was days before she turned 18. It was then that the young woman decided to go to court.
“Erika is very happy because financially she was very bad. This money will help you while you find work. Also his mother. Their family situation is not easy and now they can breathe a little.” Osuna explains that Samuel Eto’o has shown no personal interest in meeting his daughter. Perhaps this claudication of the ex-footballer in front of his duties is the shock that shook Manuel Benítez, the Cordobés, and Carlos Baute, whose filiation Osuna brought: “Hopefully there is also harmony between the father and the daughter and begin a series of contacts. It is the desirable situation and it has happened other times with famous and also anonymous parents”. To the direct question of whether Erika would like to meet her father, the lawyer replies: “Yes, that’s right. She’s a lovely girl, she doesn’t hold a grudge or a grain of malice; he is a very positive and optimistic person in life”.
It is not the only pending account of Eto’o with his offspring: that of Annie Eto’o Barranca (21) was recognized by a court in Palma in 2015 and she is also still waiting for her pension, while Etienne Eto’o (20), a footballer like his father, has seen his father’s affection appear and disappear for years, although after some difficult cold times, in recent months it seems that the Cameroonian has returned to him to approach
