Romelu Lukaku has opened up on an incident which took place at his son’s under-seven’s match four months ago which saw him clash with another parent, forcing an intervention from the stewards.
The Napoli star is father to six-year-old Romeo Emmanuel and his younger brother Jordan, three, with the forward’s oldest son already featuring in his former side Anderlecht’s youth divisions.
Due to his own playing schedule in Serie A, the former Chelsea star has had limited opportunity to watch his son in action in Belgium.
But after the player was sidelined with a torn hamstring during a pre-season friendly played against Olympiacos, Lukaku’s calendar has opened up somewhat.
However, Lukaku may find it a little more challenging to cheer on his son from the sidelines now – as he explained on a podcast in his native country in June of this year.
Lukaku had been watching his son take part in a tournament at Standard Liege’s academy, and was first spotted by an eagle-eyed parent keen for a photograph with the player.
Acquiescing, Lukaku said: ‘”Take a quick selfie, but don’t tell anyone.” Normally, I go to my son between matches and ask him if he enjoyed himself. But I never give him advice.’
But among the fellow parents was a former acquaintance, ex-Standard player Beni Badibanga, whom he was keen to catch up with.
‘I hadn’t seen (him) in years, and we were catching up until a parent of a Seraing player came to ask if I could pose for a photo,’ Lukaku explained. ‘I replied, “Can’t you see I’m talking to my friends? I haven’t seen them in 15 or 16 years. Let me talk to them, then we’ll take the photo.”
‘I finished the conversation, quickly posed for the photo, and then went to my car to catch up on sleep.
‘As I was walking to my car, (the parent) said, “If you don’t want to take a picture with everyone, you should have stayed home.”
‘Bro… I took off my hat and went straight to him, without thinking,’ Lukaku continued. ‘I wanted to punch him. Then I realised I had the temperament of my ‘padre’, a hothead too.
‘I said to him, “Bro, I never see my son play football. And now you’re saying such stupid things? I’m sick of it.” The father of one of my son’s teammates, a personal coach, stopped me with his 11-month-old on his shoulder. I yelled at the man, “You there, I’m going to find you!”‘
On the podcast, Lukaku joked that he had been delighted that no one had been there to film the incident, lest it hit the headlines.
But now, footage of the incident has emerged via Sudpresse, with an anonymous witness also telling the Belgian outlet that Lukaku had the right account of how the incident happened.
The source shared that although he hadn’t heard the conversation, he saw the Belgian international run towards the man as they exchanged insults.
They added that stewards from Standard Liege also intervened, moving Lukaku along in a bid to break up the pack.
News of Lukaku’s outbursts at his son’s football tournament comes just days after the tragic passing of the striker’s father Roger.
The 32-year-old admitted that ‘life will never be the same’ after hearing the heartbreaking news that the former Congo international had died at the age of 58.
‘Thank you for teaching me everything I know,’ Lukaku wrote in a poignant message shared on social media. ‘I’m forever grateful and appreciate you
‘Life will never be the same. Protecting and guiding me like no else could. I won’t be the same. The pain and tears are flowing big time.
‘But God will give me the strength to get myself back together’.
