Eleven years ago he was lining up to take part in the biggest club match in world football.
During an illustrious seven-year career in the Premier League , he pocketed millions of pounds in wages, lived in a mansion and drove flashy cars.
Now ex-Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue spends his days hiding from bailiffs, sometimes sleeps on the floor of a friend’s home, travels by bus and even cleans his clothes by hand because he has no washing machine.
Today, the 34-year-old tells how his staggering riches-to-rags plight has pushed him to the brink of suicide.
“I want God to help me,” he says. “Only he can help take these thoughts from my mind.”
To listen to Eboue open his heart is as harrowing as it is shocking.
Emmanuel Eboue says his fall from grace has pushed him to the brink of suicide (Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror)
He wants to talk openly and honestly in a bid to encourage others going through the same ordeal to open up.
The Sunday Mirror, through its Time To Change campaign, has been battling for the past six years to smash the stigma associated with the mental ill health with which Eboue is now suffering.
At the peak of his career with Arsenal he became a fans’ favourite. He was part of the side that faced Barcelona in the 2006 Champions League final.
Arsenal lost but Eboue remains a cult-hero at the Emirates Stadium, as much for his happy demeanour and his goal celebrations as the ability which saw him help the Ivory Coast reach the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Final.
That joy, however, has been replaced by tears – and a deep fear of the future.
Eboue, currently unable to play football because of ill-health, says he has been pushed to the brink. He has:
- Lost a bitter divorce battle, with his wife Aurelie awarded all of their assets.
- Had to hide from cops and bailiffs after being ordered by a judge to transfer his remaining Enfield home to his wife.
- Faced a heartbreaking estrangement from his three kids, who he has not seen since June.
- Been grieving after the cancer death of grandfather Amadou Bertin – who raised him – and the loss of his brother N’Dri Serge, killed in a motorbike accident.
The ex-Arsenal defender has lost everything (Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror)
Eboue says his wife took care of all his business dealings (Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror
It is now three weeks since a deadline passed for Eboue to surrender ownership of the North London home he used to share with Aurelie.
A judge will sign the transfer if Eboue does not do so.
The player and his wife lived there in happier times before Eboue bought a mansion – which Aurelie has now put on the market.
He understands she will rent out the Enfield property.
So Eboue, his belongings in bags, now awaits the knock that will see him ordered to leave at any time.
The worried star said: “I can’t afford the money to continue to have any lawyer or barrister.
"I am in the house but I am scared. Because I don’t know what time the police will come.
“Sometimes I shut off the lights because I don’t want people to know that I am inside. I put everything behind the door.
Emmanuel Eboue pictured with his wife and baby in happier times (Image: Getty)
"My own house. I suffered to buy my house but I am now scared.
“I am not going to sell my clothes or sell what I have. I will fight until the end because it is not fair.”
Eboue has taken a huge fall from the days he netted millions at Arsenal and then more than £1.5million a year at Turkish side Galatasaray.
His dream of a Premier League return with Sunderland evaporated last year, however, after he was hit with a 12-month ban by FIFA after a dispute with a former agent.
Eboue says he was never given guidance to manage his finances.
Insisting his wife looked after most of their affairs, he admits being “naive” with money.
He also claims he was beset by a string of people who gave bad advice and lost him huge sums.
With a limited education, Eboue is paying the price for being unaware of his financial situation. His handful of visits to the bank were with Aurelie.
Emmanuel Eboue on the pitch for Arsenal (Image: Getty)
Eboue even recalls an occasion when bank staff visited him – to sign paperwork – at Arsenal’s training ground.
And he now wants other young African footballers to learn from his mistakes.
He says: “I look back and say ‘Emmanuel, you have been naive... why didn’t you think about that before?’ It is hard.
"Very, very hard. The money I earned, I sent it to my wife for our children.
“In Turkey I earned eight million euros. I sent seven million back home. Whatever she tells me to sign, I sign.
"She is my wife. The problems with FIFA were because of people advising me. People who are supposed to care. But it was because of them FIFA banned me.”
Having surrendered the cars among assets transferred to his wife, Eboue now has an Oyster card and relies on London transport – while doing his best to avoid being recognised.
Eboue was hit with a 12 month FIFA ban after a dispute with his former agent (Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror)
He splits his time between the Enfield house and the home of a confidante he calls his “sister” – Yasmin Razak.
He often sleeps on a mattress on her living room floor.
But even watching TV – and seeing the likes of former team-mate Thierry Henry as a football pundit – triggers negative thoughts.
He adds: “When I see Thierry I feel happy for him but ashamed of my own situation.
"When I see friends on TV that I played with or against I say to myself ‘I should still be there’. It’s hard to watch them.”
Both Yasmin and another close pal, ex-Portsmouth and Newcastle striker Lomana Lua Lua, have been crucial in helping Eboue stay afloat.
Eboue consoles Jack Wilshere after losing to Birmingham in the League Cup final (Image: Reuters)
Of Yasmin, he said: “I call her house The Bunker. I can hide there. She has children. I don’t want to disturb them, so I sleep on the floor.”
Eboue is devastated at spending Christmas apart from his own kids, daughters Clara, 14, and Maeva, 12, and son Mathis, nine.
He goes on: “It hurts me a lot. They used to call me. But now, no contact. It pains me to be alone without them.”
Eboue has been left without so much as a washing machine.
But he won’t be beaten, saying: “Every day I wash my jeans, my clothes, everything. My hands are hard. As though I have been working on a farm.
Eboue with Arsene Wenger in 2010 (Image: Getty Images)
“I thank my grandmother because she taught me to wash, cook, clean, everything as a young man.
“I continue to thank God. I have my life. I didn’t want what has happened. I don’t wish it on anybody.”
While Eboue wants to return to playing one day, he would jump at the chance of working with former club Arsenal or players’ union the PFA.
He says: “I would accept help from anywhere but if my previous club wants to help me then I would be very, very happy. Maybe I could help the young players?
“The PFA helped me when I had my problems with my agent. If they gave me a job, even if it wasn’t a big, big job.
“Maybe I’d see some of the people I played with or against and I’d feel embarrassed. But I would cope.”
Rick Rubin has a relatively inactive Twitter account. Aside from that one time he retweeted a Periscope video of the reactionary right-wing Dilbert creator Scott Adams babbling about Putin, the sole tweet he’s ever made reads as follows: “Microphone check, one, two.” The music mogul only follows 160 accounts on Twitter, and among them are a smattering of alt-right personalities as well as some notable names on the left like feminist icon Gloria Steinem and Black Lives Matter activist Hawk Newsome. Rubin eventually deleted his Adams retweet, indicating that he was either deeply ashamed or didn’t mean to retweet the Periscope video in the first place.
Reader, I regret to inform you that Rick Rubin has spoiled the feed again. Today, he retweeted a live stream of a Reddit AMA with alt-right goon Mike Cernovich of Pizzagate fame. Rubin has yet to delete the retweet. Here’s a screengrab for posterity:
The claim that left-wing intellectuals are trying to destroy the foundations of Western society is gaining traction in Australia. And the worse news is this: even if the idea is factually untrue, it can still have an impact on politics. "Cultural Marxism" is a viral falsehood used by far-right figures, conspiracy theorists, and pundits to explain many ills of the modern world.
A still image from a YouTube video that falsely claims that concepts such as social justice and feminism, among others, are "cultural Marxism." Photo: Youtube/EuropeanUnity565
A search of archives shows right wing columnist Andrew Bolt first mentioned it in his writing in 2002.
More recently, former Labor opposition leader Mark Latham in a column, claimed that it was a "powerful" movement "dominating" about 80 per cent of public life.
University of Melbourne international relations lecturer Daniel R McCarthy says Latham and others "are using the term rhetorically to paint opponents of their political positions in a bad light".
"They label movements for LGBT rights as 'Marxist' in the hopes that this will frighten people into voting against things like gay marriage," McCarthy says.
A still from a video on Cultural Marxism and the Australian Labor Party. Photo: Supplied
"This is a clever rhetorical strategy, if dishonest or, charitably, simply deeply confused."
McCarthy makes a firm distinction between Marxist theorists originating in the 20th century and today's concept of "cultural Marxism".
An alt-right meme referencing 'cultural Marxism', a debunked concept that flourishes online. The wording co-opts fears about demographic change in the world today. Photo: Supplied
"There are Marxists or critical social theorists who study culture," McCarthy says. "What Latham and colleagues are talking about is entirely different."
"Their arguments, which verge onto the terrain of conspiracy theorising, understand social movements that they do not like as part of a 'cultural Marxist' political strategy to first colonise the terrain of public culture prior to taking over society as a whole," he says.
A 2003 article from the US-based Southern Poverty Law Centre described cultural Marxism as a "conspiracy theory with an anti-Semitic twist" that was then "being pushed by much of the American right".
"In a nutshell, the theory posits that a tiny group of Jewish philosophers who fled Germany in the 1930s and set up shop at Columbia University in New York City devised an unorthodox form of 'Marxism' that took aim at American society's culture, rather than its economic system," the report states.
Unfortunately, Google trends indicate a steadily rising interest in the term in Australia.
(Latham was emailed for comment on this article but did not reply.)
Arizona State University professor Braden Allenby says the word '"Marxism' in many places is already a loaded term, so the use of 'cultural Marxism' sometimes is an effort to short circuit analysis or dialogue by implying that the individual or organisation so tagged is beyond the pale of rational discourse."
"In that sense, it becomes part of warring narratives, a dog whistle to others in your community."
With the original meaning of "cultural Marxism" lost, Allenby says, such terms "simply become higher level symbols of belonging and community".
Allenby pioneered the study of what's known as a weaponised narrative, a form of information attack using ideas, words and images to drive wedges into society, weakening it overall.
He believes the use of the term "cultural Marxism" indicates "that the dynamics of weaponised narrative might be at play."
Weaponised narratives, warring narratives, and conspiracy theories pose threats to a cohesive democratic society.
Among the alt-right, for example, partisan groups used weaponised narratives during the 2016 US election that led to confusion and added to negative noise around legitimate candidate. The widely debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory promoted by trolls in the US is another example.
In 2015, anti-European Union trolls used the same techniques to influence the public's perception of the European immigration crisis.
Weaponised narratives and conspiracy theories are effective, Allenby says, because "there is no such thing as a news cycle anymore".
And that gives them considerable power online.
If "subgroups" can be identified, pundits using those narratives can create "news cycles for them that never rise out of that community, so they're never responded to," Allenby says.
"You can't generate responses to disinformation if you don't know the disinformation is out there, and if it's properly managed, it stays within the ring-fenced community it is intended for ... and thus is never responded to in the broader sense," says Allenby.
"It isn't that the wider community couldn't respond; it's that they never find out about it in the first place," he said.
Like a conspiracy theory, cultural Marxism gains its power from its ability to be applied broadly to many aspects of modern life. The willingness of swaths of the public to accept such views also reflects unease over real-world issues like economic uncertainty, fears of terrorism, and anxiety with demographic change.
The nature of information and views shared on social media means even things that never happened can become a political issue if enough people agree they exist.
It's hard to see this as good news.
Heading into the New Year, its time for us to REALLY gain an understanding as to what White Supremacy is.
WS is not 1 singular thing or a group of shady white men in a room somewhere. When people say "attacking white supremacy", they are not talking about 1 single tangible thing.
First off we have to think about White Supremacy like a pie chart
White supremacy is made up of many different tactics which affects not only the black physical being but also the mind and spirit.
To gain a better understanding of White Supremacy, you have to look backwards to the past. We all have heard the Harriet Tubman quote by now: "I freed 1000 slaves, I could've freed 1000 more if only they knew they were slaves". This mindset that some slaves had to not want to fight for their freedom was a direct result of mental conditioning:
Physicological Warfare is perhaps the most effective wing of White Supremacy. You gain control of the mind then you have little to worry about as far as uprisings. This is exactly why slaves could be punished by death if they were caught with books. Education is the #1 enemy of White Supremacy. A slave is only a slave because shackles have been placed on his or her MIND.
Fast forward today and many of us are still mentally shackled. The more and more I view the world, the more I realize this. We talk "White Supremacy" this, "White Supremacy" that, but the raw truth is that most of us have no idea what White Supremacy really is. Its a mere buzz word for most of you. Most of you have no idea that it's an all-encompassing and creative system that permeates itself into everything we can imagine including the things we take in as entertainment.
There are black people still labeling others as "conspiracy theorists" for merely pointing certain tactics out. There are black people who still find certain things far-fetched as far as the extent and creativity of White Supremacy is concerned. There are black people still ignorant about certain tactics of White Supremacy because they personally feel that its beyond the realm of possibility to be real.
Well this is an opportunity to come together and educate ourselves on all of the tactics used throughout history to intentionally impede the progress of blacks. No matter how far-fetched it may sound, come talk about it. No matter how "tin-foil hat" it sounds, talk about it.
Lets talk about scientific experiments that has been done on blacks(Tuskegee for example). Lets talk about specific laws that have been put in place aimed at blacks. Lets talk about how blacks have been discriminated against as far as loans and the effects its had on us. Lets talk about how our thriving communities has been destroyed throughout history. (We all know about Black Wall Street, lets mention others).
Lets talk about how even our food and water has been tampered with. Lets talk about how the Prison Industrial Complex is slavery reincarnated. Lets talk about the 13th Amendment. Lets recommend books and other study material for each other. Lets talk about what they are using to attack us mentally and spiritually. Lets talk about the effects slavery itself has had on the society we live in today.
We will never rise above White Supremacy if we don't even know what it is. We MUST know and be aware of what's attacking us first, before we can fight it.
Hopefully we can all take a break from the ******, set our differences aside and come in here and contribute and build with each other. This is all about educating ourselves and each other. Again, no matter how far-fetched something may seem, put it in here. White supremacy is an extremely creative and all-encompassing system, so when you call somebody a "conspiracy theorist", that's exactly what they want.
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The Israeli government has issued a notice for thousands of African migrants to leave the country or face imprisonment.
The migrants will be given up to $3,500 (£2,600) for leaving within the next 90 days.
They will be given the option of going to their home country or third countries.
If they do not leave, the Israeli authorities have threatened that they will start jailing them from April.
The UN refugee agency said the controversial plan violated international and Israeli laws.
The Israeli government says their return will be humane and "voluntary".
The order exempts children, elderly people, and victims of slavery and human trafficking.
People from Eritrea and Sudan make up a significant number of migrants in Israel
A spokesperson for Israel's Population and Immigration Authority told the BBC there were currently 38,000 "infiltrators" in Israel, of whom just 1,420 were being held in detention facilities.
Israel uses the term "infiltrators" to describe people who did not enter the country through an official border crossing.
Many of the migrants - who are mostly from Eritrea and Sudan - say they came to Israel to seek asylum after fleeing persecution and conflict, but the authorities regard them as economic migrants.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that an unchecked influx of African migrants could threaten Israel's Jewish character.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.
