Eto’o wins kiss-and-tell book ban appeal

A French court on Friday upheld a ban against a kiss-and-tell book written by a former mistress of Cameroon star Samuel Eto’o.

The Paris High Court originally banned publication of the book, entitled ‘Revenge Porn – Football, sex, money: the testimony of Samuel Eto’o’s ex’, last week, leading to lawyers for Nathalie Koah to appeal. But the Paris High Court’s appeal division confirmed the original ban.

Olivier Prado, the lawyer for publishers Editions du Moment, described the verdict as “a huge setback for liberty of expression and publication”. Cameroonian Koah depicts herself in the book as a woman who felt “humiliated and betrayed” by Eto’o — a former player with Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea — who had an affair with her from 2007 to 2014.

He has been with his current wife Georgette since 2005 and they have two children together. The appeals court agreed with the High Court’s original verdict that the book divulged “Mr Eto’o’s private life, in its complete intimacy, without his authorisation”. Prado argued that the decision “risks putting into question any autobiography which by definition recounts relationships the author has had with those who shared his/her life”.

He described Koah’s book as “a fight for the dignity of African women” and said the publishers would resort to “all possible legal measures” to overturn the ban. The 34-year-old Eto’o and Koah have been at loggerheads since their stormy break-up in mid-2014. The Cameroonian woman claimed Eto’o published intimate photos of her on the internet, while the former Real Madrid player accused her of “fraud and breach of trust”.