Former Premier League striker El Hadji Diouf is at risk of a jail sentence after the ex-Liverpool star was accused of abandoning his family.
Diouf, 44, has allegedly failed to pay his ex-wife £14,000 in child maintenance costs, but is said to have the funds to do so.
Following his divorce from Valerie Bishop in 2023, Diouf was ordered to pay £670 a month in child support for their daughter Keyla, 17, plus medical bills and school fees.
However the 44-year-old has been accused of failing to pay the monthly some since March last year, meaning he owes in the region of £14,000.
According to The Sunthe retired footballer failed to appear at a court hearing in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, on Tuesday.
Strict laws in Senegal outline that a refusal to contribute to child maintanence can result in a prison sentence.
Former Liverpool striker El Hadji Diouf faces a jail sentence for failing to pay child support
Diouf was ordered to pay £670-a-month in maintenance for his daughter, aged 17
Mame Adama Gueye, who represents Bishop, said: ‘El Hadji Diouf is fully solvent. He has the means to pay, but refuses to do so.
‘He leads a comfortable existence and divides his time between Dakar and Saly Portudal.’
Diouf has been ordered back to Dakar’s high court for a hearing on December 5.
A controversial figure in England, Diouf moved to Liverpool from Lens in a £10million deal following his breakout campaign at the 2002 World Cup.
Yet his stint at Anfield didn’t go according to plan, with the Senegalese scoring only six goals across his 80 appearances for the club, while he also failed to see eye-to-eye with legendary captain Steven Gerrard.
In his 2007 autobiography, Gerrard wrote: ‘Diouf was just interested in himself. His attitude was all wrong. I felt he wasn’t really a***d about putting his body on the line to get Liverpool back at the top.’
Diouf responded five years later, saying: ‘Gerrard was jealous of me back then as I had the world at my feet. There’s no one more selfish… he doesn’t care about anyone else.
‘Gerrard would rather Liverpool lost and he scored. The old Liverpool guys can’t stand him.’
