John Fashanu says sorry to his daughter

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Former England footballer John Fashanu, who has Nigerian roots, has said sorry to his daughter, Amal, for spreading wrong information about her.

He also shared that he is divorcing his wife, Vivian, because of the issue.

In May, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Fashanu, in a video, denied claims about Amal. He claimed she was not managing his business. He also said he had not faced health issues from heading footballs and wanted some distance from her.

At that time, the English TV presenter said he was happily married to Vivian. He accused his daughter of trying to damage his reputation.

But in a video posted on his Facebook on Saturday, the former host of the ‘Gladiators’ TV show said Vivian gave him wrong information about Amal. He also announced that he was divorcing her.

The former Aston Villa player said: “I’m here today to clarify a few very important things. The video I previously did was wrong. I was misinformed by my wife, Vivian, whom I’m sorry to say I’m divorcing. Now that I’m aware of the truth, I apologise to my daughter, Amal, and legal action will be taken against the liar.

“I allowed myself to be misinformed and influenced. My soon-to-be ex-wife, Vivian, created unnecessary division between my daughter and me, and I deeply regret allowing that to happen. Amal, I want to publicly say I’m sorry for that previous video. It was made at a time when I was listening to someone else’s anger instead of following my own heart.”

The 63-year-old added that he and Amal have a great father-daughter bond. He mentioned that he was the one who asked her to help him with his business because she is his first daughter.

He said Amal has always been special to him. “The truth is, Amal and I have a wonderful relationship. She will always be my first daughter, and she will always have a place by my side, helping me with my affairs. I couldn’t be prouder of the intelligent, strong and compassionate woman she has become.

“What makes me even prouder is that she never chose to retaliate. As she always says, ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right.’ Those words have stayed with me, and they say everything about the kind of person she is,” said the football legend.

Mr Fashanu went on to say that life is too short for division and highlighted the importance of family.

“I’m grateful that love has always been stronger than misunderstanding. Have a wonderful day, everyone. God bless.”

This newspaper learned that Mr Fashanu’s earlier video followed an interview Amal gave to the British tabloid Daily Mail.

In that interview, she mentioned that she had made up with her father days before her wedding to Ghanaian billionaire Mohamad Odaymat.

Amal said the former striker “has been laid low by a mystery condition” which she thinks could be linked to heading thousands of footballs during his 17-year career.

She mentioned that other former footballers have faced similar issues. She added that she hoped Mr Fashanu, who has lived in Nigeria for the past 13 years, would recover in time to attend her wedding as one of the guests of honour on the biggest day of her life.