Former Cameroon footballer Mboma converts to Islam, changes name
Former Cameroon forward Patrick Mboma was also part of the team that won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
What you need to know:
- During his career, Mboma played for Chateauroux, Paris Saint-Germain, Metz, Gamba Osaka, Cagliari, Parma, Sunderland, Al-Ittihad, Tokyo Verdy and Vissel Kobe before retiring in 2005.
- Mboma, who is a football consultant for French television, Canal+, is the latest football star to convert to Islam.
Former Cameroon striker Patrick Mboma has converted to Islam and changed his name to Abdul Jalil Mboma.
The two-time Africa Cup of Nations winner proclaimed his faith before a crowd of worshipers in a mosque in his native Douala on Friday, May 13.
The 51-year-old did not reveal his motivation for the switch from Christianity to Islam, but reports say the conversion is linked to his recent union with his sweetheart, Fatoumata Binta, a Guinean Muslim.
Affectionately called Patrick “Magic” Mboma, the 2000 African Player of the Year did not make any public comments about his conversion after his proclamation on Friday, but posted a photo of him and his wife dressed in Islamic regalia on his Instagram page on Saturday.
Mboma is a household name in football on the continent. He led the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon to back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations titles in 2000 co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, and 2002 in Mali.
He also helped Cameroon win their first-ever Olympic gold medal at the Sydney Games in 2000.
Mboma also played at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, scoring a memorable overhead kick against France in 1998 which earned him the nickname name “Magic” Mboma.
During his career, Mboma played for Chateauroux, Paris Saint-Germain, Metz, Gamba Osaka, Cagliari, Parma, Sunderland, Al-Ittihad, Tokyo Verdy and Vissel Kobe before retiring in 2005.
Mboma, who is a football consultant for French television, Canal+, is the latest football star to convert to Islam.
In March, Ghanaian and Arsenal midfielder, Thomas Partey converted to Islam proclaiming his confirmation at a mosque in London.
Before Partey, former Dutch international Clarence Seedorf also embraced islam. The former Indomitable Lions coach switched to Islam during a ritual in Qatar in March where he has been living for some years.
He wrote on his Instagram page that he was “very happy and pleased to join all [Muslim] Brothers and Sisters around the world,” and expressed his gratitude to his wife, Sophia Makramati for teaching him “in depth the meaning of Islam”.
