Most people see footballers as rich men during their playing days and even after they retire because of the huge sum of money received when they were in service.
These players have played with clubs in Europe, Asia and other developed countries outside Nigeria.
These footballers were seen driving big cars, live in mansion, put on designers and also lavish money in clubs.
However, some of these footballers went completely broke after hanging up their boot and could not afford to pay their bills.
Some of these footballers went broke due to some bad investment, sickness, divorce, gambling and also lavish spending.
Celestine Babayaro
Celestine Babayaro is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a left-back or a midfielder.
Babayaro spent the majority of his career playing in the Premier League, mainly for Chelsea from 1997 to 2005, and then later for Newcastle United, from 2005 to 2008. He had a brief stint at MLS club LA Galaxy, but never officially played for the club. He retired as a free agent in 2010.
Babayaro represented the Nigeria national football team from 1995 to 2004 and was part of two Olympic squads, two World Cup squads and three African Cup of Nations squads.
Babayaro was declared bankrupt in 2011 after a failed move to MLS. He was taken to court by creditors who had loaned him large amounts of money.
Femi Opabunmi
Femi Opabunmi is a Nigerian former footballer. He played for a few clubs, including Shooting Stars FC, Grasshoppers Zürich (Switzerland), Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Chamois Niortais in France. He studied at Methodist High School Ibadan and played for the Methodist High School Ibadan Old Boys.
He retired from football in 2006 due to serious glaucoma. He is now totally blind in right eye. According to report Femi Opabunmi currently lives in Ibadan and relies on his wife to cater for the needs of the family.
Wilson Oruma
Wilson Oruma is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in France. Oruma was born in Warri, Nigeria. He arrived at RC Lens from Bendel Insurance in 1994. A season after being loaned to Nancy, he returned to Lens and played seven matches during their 1997–98 Ligue 1 title campaign. After representing Nigeria at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he moved to Turkish side Samsunspor, returning to France one year later to play for Nîmes.
In 2000, Oruma was transferred to Swiss side Servette, playing two season before coming back to France again, where he played until 2009 for Sochaux, Marseille and Guingamp, winning the 2003–04 Coupe de la Ligue with Sochaux and the 2008–09 Coupe de France with Guingamp, despite them being a Ligue 2 club at the time. He was handed a trial by Cardiff City – a club based in Wales but who play in the English football league system – in the summer of 2008 and scored in a 2–2 pre-season friendly at Chasetown, but was not awarded a contract due to a lack of fitness.
He retired from professional football in 2010[9] after a season with Greek club AO Kavala.
In 2018, Oruma suffered emotional disorder as a result of how he was reportedly duped by an unknown pastor. He was broke and in a status of mental disorder six years after he was reportedly defrauded by a clergyman and some fake oil businessmen. It was learnt that Oruma eventually lost a whopping sum, close to N2 billion to an investment.
Ifeanyi Udeze
Ifeanyi Udeze is a former Nigerian professional footballer who played as a defender. He now works with Brila FM, one of the biggest sports radio in Nigeria as a Sports analyst. He participated in the 2002 World Cup, and played mainly as a left-back, he is also used as centre-back.
During his playing days, he was Super Eagles’ second choice left-back to former Chelsea left-back, Celestine Babayaro. On some occasions, he played together with Babayaro; both switching positions from the left full-back to the left wing of the midfield, often confusing opponents with their identical style of play. The ex-footballer was reported to have lost money on gambling.
Mohammed Yusuf
Yusuf Mohamed is a retired Nigerian football defender who played as a right-back. A defender, Mohamed won the African Champions league title with Enyimba in 2003 and 2004, before moving to Sudanese club Al-Hilal.
On 23 January 2009, he completed a move to Swiss side FC Sion from Al-Hilal. Mohammed underwent a medical and agreed on a three-and-a-half year deal in time to beat the transfer deadline, following in the footsteps of compatriot Obinna Nwaneri, who also joined Sion in 2007 after breaking into the Super Eagles squad.
Mohammed, who has five caps for his country, previously passed a trial with French side Paris Saint-Germain F.C., but opted to fulfill a pre-contract agreement with the Switzerland club instead.
He returned to Al-Hilal in May 2010. He currently rehabbing from an injury suffered at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations that led to him being excluded from the 2010 FIFA World Cup team. He is said to be living in poverty in Kano Nigeria after he was abandoned by the authorities.
