Belgium’s Jeremy Doku criticised over plan to leave World Cup to attend birth of first child

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Belgium winger Jeremy Doku has been criticised for saying that he intends to leave his nation’s World Cup squad to attend the birth of his first child.

Earlier this week, the Manchester City player told reporters that his wife Shireen is due to give birth during the second week of July — which would coincide with the tournament’s quarter-final stage — and he would return home for it should Belgium be in the tournament.

“It’s my first child, so I ‌would ⁠definitely want to be there,” Doku said earlier this week, per Reuters.

Doku told ​reporters his wife Shireen is due in the second week of July — when the tournament has reached the quarter-final stage — and, if Belgium are ​still involved, he wants to be at the birth.

“If you ask me what I want, my answer is that nobody wants to miss the birth of their first child. But I also ​know that football ​involves many ⁠other considerations,” he said. “I know the federation supports its players and understands their situations. We’ll see what we ​can do.”

On Friday, the L’Equipe channel presenter France Pierron said it was a “disgusting moment” to leave the international squad, adding that the “father is useless” during the birth process. “You are not going to cut an umbilical cord; you can’t miss a World Cup,” she said.

Pierron’s comments faced pushback from the former boxer Brahim Asloum, who responded: “A baby is your entire life. A World Cup is over when it is over.”

Pierron did not back down in her criticism: “He is going to waste 10 hours, he will be exhausted and have an emotional meltdown. Your baby will always be there.”

Later on Saturday, however, she released a statement on her social media saying her “intention has never been to minimize the place or role of fathers with their partner and their child”.

“I was expressing a personal opinion, within the context of a contentious exchange,” Pierron said. “These remarks commit only me and in no way reflect a collective position.
I understand that they may have shocked, hurt, or wounded some of you, and I am sorry for that.”

Doku, 24, started in Belgium’s World Cup opening game against Egypt on Monday, which ended 1-1. Rudi Garcia’s side play Iran on Sunday before completing their group stage against New Zealand five days later, on June 26.

Later on Saturday, the Belgian FA announced that Doku would miss the Iran game due to illness.

Have other players done this before?

Doku’s international team-mate ​Brandon Mechele, a 33-year-old defender with Club Brugge, is in a similar scenario, although his wife is due to give birth later in July.

Kingsley Coman left the France camp for both the delayed European Championship in 2021 and the next edition three years later, to attend the births of his third and then fourth child.

Phil Foden left the England camp at Euro 2024 to attend the birth of his third child while last summer, Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch missed the Community Shield game against Crystal Palace after just becoming a father.

It is not exclusively an issue in football. On Friday, Shohei Ohtani was away from the Los Angeles Dodgers for at least a day on paternity leave to attend the birth of his second child.

The four-time MVP was at Dodger Stadium earlier on Friday but was out of the lineup to play the Baltimore Orioles. In their announcement, the Dodgers said they anticipate Ohtani will be back “at some point this weekend.”