The public fallout between the Lukaku family over the funeral procedures for Roger, father of Napoli striker Romelu and defender Jordan, has continued.
Roger Lukaku, a former player for Zaire (now DR Congo) who ended his career in Belgium, died aged 58 last month.
His son Romelu has recently claimed that he and his brother Jordan were ‘extorted’ by people refusing to hand over their father’s body for his funeral in Belgium.
The Lukaku siblings had planned for the funeral to be held in the Basilica of Koekelberg in Brussels, but now due to the family dispute it will be held in Kinshasa, the capital of DR Congo.
As a result though Romelu, 32, and Jordan, 31, won’t be able to attend and lay their father to rest.
Romelu had taken to social media to accuse others of extortion – and those allegations have been backed by reports in Belgium.
Belgian publication Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN), claim that distant relatives of the Lukaku siblings in Congo have taken advantage of the situation.
They state Romelu ‘had provided a more than generous sum of money to the local community in DR Congo so they could mourn his father in their own way.’
HLN adds that with concrete agreements in place to repatriate Roger Lukaku to Belgium, members of the local community in DR Congo went back on their word and demanded more money – looking to re-negotiate it due to the wealth of the Lukaku’s, especially Romelu.
And told they had to pay a multiple of the agreed fee, Romelu and Jordan refused.
HLN’s claims, align with Romelu’s heart-breaking statement on Instagram which reads: ‘As you may know, we planned to have the funeral this Friday, but because of certain decisions being made in Kinshasa (capital of DR Congo), the funeral will take place over there.
‘Our dad passed away on the 28 of September and we as brothers tried everything to bring his corpse back to Europe but we felt that we were being extorted by some people.
‘If our father was here today he wouldn’t accept it. It breaks our soul for us to not put our father to rest. But some people didn’t want it.
‘We understand know why our dad used to keep us away from a lot of people.
‘God bless your soul.’
Tributes were paid to Roger in Belgium after his passing, with Romelu’s old club Anderlecht sharing an image of him on a screen at a match with Standard de Liege earlier this month.
Sharing news of his father’s passing last month, Lukaku shared a picture of them together when he was a child and wrote: ‘Thank you for teaching me everything I know.
‘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.
‘Merci pour tout Roger Menama Lukaku Vieux Roy (for his friends). Mon Papa.’
Roger began his football journey with Vita club in his homeland before joining Africa Sports D’Abdijan in Ivory Coast.
He moved to Belgium in 1990 with second-tier club Boom and went on to play for Seraing, Germinal Ekeren, Mechelen, and Oostende. He also had a brief stint in Turkey with Genclerbirligi.
