Emmanuel Adebayor: I considered suicide

Adebayor has published a third lengthy post on his Facebook account in order, he says, to respond to claims made by some of his siblings through their own social media channels.

The Tottenham striker says arguments with his brothers Kola and Peter, who died in July 2012, got so bad they drove him to consider taking his own life.

Adebayor wrote: "Many times I wanted to give up. Ask my sister Iyabo Adebayor how many times I have called and was ready to commit suicide.

"I kept these stories for years. But if I die, no-one would know my story, no-one would learn from it. Some people say I should keep these stories private, but someone has to sacrifice himself, someone has to talk about it."

Adebayor published the first of three Facebook posts earlier this month in which he claimed another brother, Rotimi, had stolen mobile phones belonging to team-mates at a leading French football academy.

In his latest 1,649-word post he alleged he was threatened with a knife after refusing to provide Kola with a "huge amount" of money in order to establish a car business.

Adebayor, who was then at Monaco, wrote: "I was very tired and decided to go take a nap. I woke and a knife was held to my throat.

"As I opened my eyes, both of my brothers (Kola and Peter) were there. They were shouting and they claimed that I was wasting their time.

"Peter was going mad and Kola was supporting. I asked them, 'Is this the only way to solve this issue? If yes, then kill me and take the money'. It's only at that moment that he put the knife down."