Doku ‘not against’ journalist who slammed his World Cup paternity plan

Jeremy Doku has drawn a line under one of the World Cup’s stranger rows. The Manchester City winger says he is “not against” the journalist who criticised his plan to leave Belgium’s camp during the tournament to attend the birth of his first child. It is a notably calm response to a debate that ran far beyond football.

What Doku said before the tournament

Speaking to Reuters before the World Cup began, Doku said he intended to leave the Belgium camp to be at the birth even if his side were still in contention. His wife Shireen was due to give birth during the second week of July, squarely in the middle of the tournament schedule.

The winger never hedged on his priorities. A match can be replayed in memory, a first child’s birth cannot, and he made that trade-off public well before a ball was kicked.

The criticism that started the row

L’Equipe channel presenter France Pierron labelled a father “completely useless” at the time of their child’s birth, a line that spread quickly online and shifted the conversation towards paternity leave in elite sport.

The topic is familiar in England. Premier League players regularly miss fixtures for the birth of a child, and clubs have largely normalised it, but the same decision at a World Cup still attracts a different level of scrutiny.

Doku’s measured response

Rather than escalate, Doku said he is “not against” the journalist. It closes the story without a retraction: he stands by his choice, but has no interest in a running feud with a broadcaster.

That restraint fits the player. Doku rarely courts headlines away from the pitch, preferring to let his one-versus-one dribbling do the talking for Manchester City.

Belgium’s quarter-final exit

Doku was part of the Belgium side that reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup, a respectable run for a squad still rebuilding after its golden generation.

For City supporters, the more relevant detail is how central he has become to Belgium’s attack. His acceleration and dribbling volume remain among the most distinctive in the Premier League, and international minutes at that intensity only sharpen the case.

FAQ