Updated January 13, 2020, 4:28 p.m.
Mohamadou Idrissou is back in Germany, but completely destitute. The former World Cup participant from Cameroon was detained in Austria instead of playing football. Now he is back where his European tour began at the turn of the millennium: in amateur football in Frankfurt.
Show business and football have a lot in common: the glittering world of professional football keeps throwing stars off their carousel. Mohamadou Idrissou is one such case.
Mohamadou Idrissou sleeps with friends on the couch
The 39-year-old center-forward from Cameroon has had nothing to count for in his fame after 20 years in foreign football. The former Bundesliga striker no longer even has his own bed.
In 2010 Idrissou reached the high point of his career with the appointment to Cameroon’s World Cup squad for the tournament in South Africa. Nine and a half years later, Idrissou joined the Hessian league club Rot-Weiß Frankfurt.
The club, which sold a certain Jürgen Klopp to 1. FSV Mainz 05 30 years ago, is in a relegation zone after the first half of the season. If the descent occurs, red and white will be seventh-class next summer.
Idrissou comes from the detention in Austria back to Hessen and claims to own the “Bild” newspaper no more money.
Idrissou, who has 303 games in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga in Germany scored 95 goals since he moved from Africa in no less than 15 clubs for his marksmanship. Red White Frankfurt is his 16th international station. The first was city rival FSV in the summer of 2000.
Idrissou’s most prominent employers were Borussia Mönchengladbach, SC Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hannover 96 and 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
Idrissou made it to the famous red carpet: from 2016 there is a picture of the footballer on the occasion of the premiere of the 300th episode of the RTL series “Alarm für Cobra 11”.
Today Idrissou faces completely different challenges. Friends alternately provide him with a couch for the night in Offenbach and Neu-Isenburg. He is looking for his own apartment.
The new beginning should succeed after the deportation from Austria. Idrissou has been active there since the beginning of 2018, switching from third-class FC Kufstein to DSV Leoben in the fourth division last summer.
Arrested in Austria
Idrissou followed in mid-December a return journey Germany arrested. According to his own statement, he was then held in custody for eleven days.
Idrissou had not received a residence visa. That explained Leobens club boss Edi Lieber, Idrissou was supposed to play for the DSV and work on the side. The striker already had a job offer and a work permit.
But he did not get the residence visa. “I’m sorry for him, he has been in Europe for so long,” said Lieber. The refusal of the visa has something to do with Idrissou’s past in Germany, said Lieber. But he did not give details.
It is known that Idrissou was involved in legal proceedings several times for maintenance payments to his children. The maintenance, Idrissou admitted in an interview with “Bild”, has been missing for a year because he has no more money.
Insolvency proceedings are still ongoing
The Dortmund public prosecutor’s office is currently also investigating insolvency proceedings against Idrissou. He went bankrupt in 2018 with a fashion boutique. Nevertheless, he plans to launch a fashion collection with friends. (HAU / dpa)
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