An estranged daughter of former Cameroonian striker, Samuel Eto’o, Annie Eto’o, has opened a legal case against him for failing to pay up a “maintenance fee” of €10,000 (£8,600) ordered by a Spanish court earlier in the year.
Former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker has been involved in a legal tussle filed by the 21-year-old Annie whom he fathered as the result of an affair with an Italian lady, Anna Maria Barranca, in 2002, but had refused to be part of her life.
Following a DNA test in 2015, a judge recognised Eto’o as Annie’s biological father and ordered the Camoroon FA President to pay her the sum as maintenance fee.
In reopening the case against Eto’o, Annie claimed he stopped paying the maintenance, and she had reported him to the Milan Prosecutor’s Office for “non-compliance with family support obligations.”
The document stated that Eto’o “would always evade his obligations as a father after she previously made a last desperate attempt to contact him.”
In an interview shortly after filing the case, Annie’s lawyer, Daniele Vianello, explained what the lawsuit they had filed against the former Cameroon captain consisted of.
“We have presented a complaint to the Milan Prosecutor’s Office in which Annie requests that her father be convicted of having committed the crime of violation of family care obligations, punishable by up to one year in prison.
“A crime that dates back to nothing less than her birth and also with the aggravating factor of recidivism, since he has already been convicted of this same crime,” the lawyer said.
This is the second time one of Eto’o’s estranged children will drag him to court on grounds of abandonment and neglect.
In July, the Champions League winner was dragged to a court by Spanish daughter, Erika do Rosario, over his failure to recognize her as his biological daughter and pay up in child support.
The case was eventually settled with an agreement for Eto’o to pay Erica €90,000 for unpaid maintenance pensions.