JAKARTA - The Belgian Football Federation (Royal Belgian FA) congratulated Jeremy Doku on the birth of his son, Praise, on Monday, June 22, 2026, local time, with a statement from the team adding that the Manchester City winger rejoined Seattle on Wednesday, June 24, 2026 WIB.
Doku missed the Group G match against Iran which ended in a 0-0 draw on Monday, June 22, 2026 WIB, due to a respiratory illness, but was allowed to fly back to London so he could be with his wife.
"Because he has received appropriate medical care for several days, he can fly without any medical risk to be with his family during this very special moment."
"He was accompanied by my colleague, dr. Brecht De Coninck. Everything went perfectly, and the mother, father, and baby are in good health."
"Jeremy will rejoin the group in Seattle," Belgian team doctor Brahim Hacene said in a statement.
Belgium will face New Zealand on Saturday, June 27, 2026, WIB morning, in the last match of Group G of the 2026 World Cup and need a win - after opening the tournament with two draws - to avoid elimination before the knockout stage.
Apart from that, on Monday, June 22, 2026, the French sports daily, L'Equipe, rejected the comments of a female commentator who criticized Doku for wanting to leave the 2026 World Cup to accompany the birth of her first child.
L'Equipe apologized to Doku in a statement and said that France Pierron's comments did not represent their values.
Pierron described childbirth as "a disgusting, sorry, useless moment for the father" when participating in the L'Equipe de Chocpada television show last weekend.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
