KICKING OFF Football love child scandals…from demands to dig up legend’s body to claims of trading ‘naked selfies’ for child support

On Tuesday, ex-Brazil and Manchester City star Jo was arrested in Rio de Janeiro after a court order was issued over unpaid child maintenance.

Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has gotten himself in trouble with the mother of his lovechild

And back in March, the mum of Thibaut Courtois' love-child revealed she feared she could be made homeless as she couldn't afford to pay for her mouldy home – despite the football star's immense wealth.

Elsa Izac, who has a seven-year-old son with the £35million Real Madrid goalie, slammed him for living a life of luxury in the Spanish capital on pay of £240,000 a week while she faced losing her home over £63k mortgage debt.

They're far from the only footballers who have been forced to pick up the bill after fathering a love-child – or facing a scandal over the true paternity of kids.

Jetting around the world out of sight of their families back home, it's not all that surprising that so many footballers have been caught in a bed they shouldn't be in.

But plenty have had their shenanigans come back to haunt them.

And for some stars, even passing away fails to silence the noise.

Here we take a look at some of football's biggest love-child scandals over the years…

Vinicius Tobias

It's not at all uncommon to get a tattoo of your kid's name – they are your own flesh and blood, after all.

So take a moment to feel for Brazilian international Vinicius Tobias, who got his daughter's name on his arm only to find out shortly after that he isn't the dad after all.

Vinicius Tobias was confident that his ex Ingrid Lima was pregnant with his child

His ex-girlfriend Ingrid Lima gave birth to a baby girl named Maite back at the start of October last year, and the Shakhtar Donetsk full-back was confident it was his, despite their separation.

So confident, he got her name tattooed along with the words "I love you" in Portuguese.

But not long after, Ingrid revealed in a post on Instagram that a DNA test had turned everything on its head.

"Vinicius and I haven't been together for a while. During that time, I was in a relationship with someone and so was he. We both moved on with our lives," she said.

"In the meantime, Maite came along. We decided to do a DNA test, and Maiite is not Vinicius' daughter."

Yaya Toure

Ex-City legend Yaya Toure has faced some pretty shocking allegations over the way he reportedly behaved with the mother of his alleged love-child.

His old girlfriend Mariam Camara, who he met as a teenager growing up in his home nation of Ivory Coast, claims the pair engaged in a four-month affair and would meet for sex in hotels and her Paris flat.

Shockingly, in 2015 she claimed the fling with the married footy star came to an end when he found out she was pregnant.

But it got worse – as Camara claimed Toure would only pay child support if she sent him "naked selfies".

"I would have to give him something, like naked photos or photos of my bum. And if I didn't send the photos we wouldn't get the money," she said.

"Yaya is a role model to thousands of young people around the world. But he doesn't have the heart to properly care for his own son."

A spokesman for Toure at the time declined to comment.

Maradona

Given his reputation, it's probably not surprising to see Maradona on this list.

The late Argentinian superstar allegedly bedded 8,000 women just while in Italy, according to his driver.

Santiago Lara – who sports the same dark eyebrows as the Argentinian star – has demanded his body be dug up for DNA testing

Unsurprisingly, it's led to plenty of speculation over secret children – leading one "son" to make a very bold demand.

After claiming on live TV, aged just 18, that he was Maradona's illegitimate son, Santiago Lara instructed lawyers to request the star's body be dug up for DNA tests just hours after his burial in 2020.

His mother, Natalia Garat, died from cancer at just 23, back in 2006, after allegedly enjoying a seven-year on-off relationship with the footballer.

But just before her death, Santiago claimed she made a stunning admission.

Speaking on the programme Suelta la Sopa, Santiago said: "My mum sadly died when I was just three years old but days before her death, when she had to remove her ventilator to speak, she told a group of lawyers I was Diego's son."

Santiago had for years fought for a DNA test but had little luck getting past the star's lawyers.

Maradona is also rumoured to have fathered three children in Cuba, and also a now-29-year-old woman called Magali Gil.

That's on top of other children it took him years to recognise as his own.

But while Santiago hasn't had any more luck with his claim, it's hard to deny that he doesn't look all that dissimilar to the star in his younger years.

Neymar

Neymar could have to fork out millions if ex-model Gabriella Gaspar's claims are to be believed

In August last year, a former Hungarian model claimed that Neymar was the father of her 11-year-old daughter – and revealed she'd demanded a DNA test from the Brazilian star to find out once and for all.

Gabriella Gaspar says she had an affair with the footballer when he was on international duty in Bolivia all the way back in 2013, leaving her with daughter Jazmin Zoe.

Gaspar, 30, is now taking legal action to make Neymar take a DNA test. If paternity is confirmed, the ex-model has demanded £25,685 a month from the star, as well as ten year's worth of back-dated payments.

According to Brazilian newspaper O Globo, Gaspar – who works as a store clerk – has apparently been trying to get in touch with the star since 2022.

"A paternity investigation process is being conducted in secret and there is an impediment to providing any information," a representative for the footballer told the outlet.

Just what the result of this investigation will be remains unknown – but you can bet he won't be keen to make those backdated payments.