Emmanuel Adebayor has attempted to defend himself after being heavily criticised for revealing he will not donate to help health services in Togo battle coronavirus.
The former Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham striker has been public that he has no plans to use his money to help those attempting to stop the pandemic and he expressed a desire to be able to do as he pleases with his wealth.
Currently isolating back in his native Togo, Adebayor is well aware that many of his peers have made sizeable donations but the former captain of the national team dismissed the notion of responsibility on his shoulders.
The country, at the time of writing, has 88 confirmed COVID-19 cases and six people have died from the virus.
Across the entire continent, the health care systems are not as strong as the ones in the UK or USA and Simon Antara, of the African Field Epidemiology Network, explained: ‘We are preparing for disaster.’
But despite the warnings, Adebayor is ‘very clear’ that he will not donate.
‘For those of you who say I don’t donate, let me be very clear, I don’t donate. It is very simple,’ Adebayor said in a Facebook Live video, as reported by Marca.
‘I do what I want and eat what I want. Later, there will be people who will criticise me for the fact that I did not make a donation in Lomé (capital of Togo).’
Adebayor had been playing in Paraguay with Olimpia before the virus broke out and lockdown measures were introduced to stop the spread.
He departed the South American country for home, via stops in France and Benin, and there was criticism in some quarters that the former Real Madrid forward had brought the disease back to his country – a suggestion Adebayor strongly refutes.
‘Some think that I was the one who introduced the virus in Lomé,’ he added. ‘It is very unfortunate, but this country is like that.’
Fellow African footballers have stepped up to help their countries with the novel coronavirus beginning to take hold on the continent.
Former Barcelona forward Samuel Eto’o is promising supplies to 100,000 people in his home country of Cameroon.
The retired 39-year-old will donate face masks, hand sanitisers, soaps and food through his Samuel Eto’o foundation.
The vital supplies will be sent to 50,000 households across four cities in the African nation – Douala, Buea, Yaoundé and Bafoussam.
Meanwhile, former Chelsea star Didier Drogba has offered his hospital in Ivory Coast to be used as a coronavirus treatment centre.
‘They can compare me to Drogba, they can compare me to Eto’o, but unfortunately I am not them,’ he concluded. ‘I am Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor and I will always do what I want.’
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