6 footballers who have been arrested or banned for cocaine possession

Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), over the past weekend, declared suspended deputy Police commissioner Abba Kyari wanted for aiding and abetting the trafficking of cocaine.

Last year, the disgraced police detective had been indicted for internet fraud. The United States court alleged that Kyari was complicit in a $1.1million bribe fraud perpetrated by famous Nigerian influencer Ramon Abbas a.k.a Hushpuppi.

The new revelation by the NDLEA revealed that Kyari is a member of a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline, adding that the officer needs to answer questions that have cropped up during investigations.

Football and politics might not always intertwine, but when they do, it is often linked to either money-motivated factors or political figures interested in the sport. 

Controversial issues like Kyari's have also made headlines in football, as they involved players who were either eager to make more money through the cocaine trade, or simply couldn't stay off the use of it.

Argentine legend, Diego Maradona remains the most influential football icon often linked to messy conversations of cocaine use, possession or distribution, and the sport. As usual, it never ends well for such players as either suspensions, bans, expulsion from the sport or police arrests follow.

Like Kyari, what footballers have come under intense scrutiny for the possession of cocaine?

In 2011, 34-year-old Nigerian footballer Kingsley Izuchukwu was arrested by the Indian police in Delhi for allegedly possessing 25 grams of cocaine. He was a leading national level football player in Nigeria and a product of the Pepsi Football Academy. 

The footballer was linked to an international drug peddling ring of Nigerian descent operating in Delhi upon his arrival in India in 2009. He was apprehended two years later.

Former Real Madrid player Edwin Congo was arrested by Spanish police in 2020 as part of investigations into a cocaine smuggling ring. He had been detained along with ten others.

Congo, who spent most of his time at the Bernabeu on loan at Real Valladolid, Vitoria Guimaraes of Portugal and Toulouse of France, was eventually released after questioning.

After testing positive for a Premier League class A substance, namely cocaine, in 2002, former Manchester United and Chelsea player Mark Bosnich received a nine-month suspension from football.

The former goalkeeper blamed his life for spiralling out of control due to his relationship with model Sophie Anderton. Bosnich, an Australian, also claimed that he was lost in the nightlife of West London, hence his constant possession of the prohibited drug. He eventually recovered to continue his football career.

Having played for Serie A clubs Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Empoli, and Brescia between 1993 and 2010, former striker Francesco Flachi returned to football in February 2022 following a 12-year ban from the game.

The player was first banned from playing football for 16 months in May 2007, but this was later raised to two years. He was then banned again in June 2010, this time for 12 years, after he was found guilty of possessing cocaine again, less than two years after his first ban.

Chelsea, in 2004, sacked their Romanian striker Adrian Mutu after he was found guilty of cocaine usage. Mutu was eventually banned from football for 7 months until May 2005.

After his ban, the striker, who had joined Chelsea for about £16 million, returned to football, playing for clubs such as Juventus, Fiorentina, and Pune City in India, among others.

Maradona might be one of football's greatest-ever players, but he is also one of football's greatest-ever cocaine users.

The soccer demi-god died in 2020 after a wild run of cocaine use, possession and distribution in both his playing days andin retirement. 

During his time at Napoli in the 1980s, his vices of drugs and sex workers saw him fall into a trap with the local Italian mafia, one that saw him land in trouble with the Italian police later in 1991.

Apart from a 15-month suspension by Napoli in 1991, Maradona was also arrested in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the same year for possessing 500g of cocaine.