John Fashanu has reignited a public war of words with his daughter Amal after she said she hoped he would play a key role in a lavish wedding celebration planned for next year—alongside claims that he had been laid low by a “mystery illness” linked to heading
John Fashanu is not just pushing back—he’s drawing a line.
The former England striker and Gladiators host, 63, has insisted he is “fighting fit” and has not suffered a “mysterious condition,” after his daughter Amal claimed he had been laid low by an illness she believed could be connected to him heading footballs during his 17 years at the top level.
The latest dispute comes as Amal, 37, prepares for a wedding celebration next year that she says will span three days and take place on two continents. She has described inviting more than 600 guests, with part of the event in Lagos and a traditional Spanish wedding in Madrid.
But in an interview conducted by Amal, she said she had hoped her father would play a key role in those plans—while also describing their relationship as reconciled following earlier fallout over business matters and her concerns about his health. Fashanu’s response was immediate and personal.
“I want to make it abundantly clear that I am totally disappointed in my daughter Amal,” Fashanu said to the Daily Mail. “It is totally false for her to suggest that my health is declining or that I have a mysterious condition, potentially arising from heading the ball during my footballing career.”
“I have no mysterious condition at all.”
Fashanu said he has been dealing with stress after legal battles over land he owns in Nigeria, where he now lives with his third wife, Vivian. He described how that pressure affected him physically, saying he lost weight during the past year and struggled with appetite for a period.
“The situation was, for a while, traumatising for me and I often lost my appetite due to that,” he said. “But loss of weight does not mean my health is deteriorating.”
Amal, meanwhile, said she had been regularly flying to Abuja in Nigeria to help manage his affairs, and claimed she wanted him to move to England so he could receive better care.
Fashanu disputes that picture completely. He said Amal has not made regular trips, and he claimed she visited him for the first time in Nigeria a month ago with her new husband—whom he said he had never met before.
“Amal tried to be supportive in some ways, but does not manage my affairs,” Fashanu said.
He added that he has a management team based in the UK working closely with his wife and lawyers in Nigeria—particularly over the past seven months—in relation to his legal suits.
Then came the wider insistence that Amal does not speak for him. He said it was “a terrible insult” for her to publicly suggest his health was declining and stressed: “My body and mind are both functioning well.”
The dispute also reaches beyond health claims into plans and money.
Amal said she is planning a wellness centre and business ventures with her father. Fashanu said that is incorrect, and he said he is not pursuing any joint venture with her in relation to a wellness clinic or a football academy in Ghana.
“I will not be pursuing any joint venture with Amal in relation to a wellness clinic or footballing academy in Ghana and don’t recall her ever bringing that up with me,” he said.
“I may have well considered it, had it been raised, although I have a busy football academy already going on.”
Amal’s wedding story is also being challenged. Fashanu said he knew nothing about the “glitzy wedding” plans ahead of time.
“In fact, my daughter visited me for the first time in Nigeria two weeks ago with her husband whom she introduced to me for the first time too!” he said.
“Nobody would believe that she told me nothing about this glitzy wedding of hers next year. All she told me was that she was married to him already, although never invited me to the occasion.”
The wedding itself has already begun in formal terms. Earlier this month. Amal said she tied the knot with Ghanaian tycoon Mohamad Odaymat. who owns a pharmaceutical business and is described as a member of one of the country’s most influential billionaire families. Amal said they had a simple courthouse ceremony in front of four witnesses, before planning the larger celebration next year.
Amal said the main event will be staged in Lagos and Madrid. She said she is hoping both her mother and father will be at both parts of the celebrations and suggested they might hire a jet so family members can move between locations without financial strain.
Fashanu, however, pushed back on what he said were inaccuracies around his personal life.
He dismissed any suggestion that he is no longer with his wife, saying he has only been married three times, not five as stated in last week’s Daily Mail article. He said: “I am currently with my third wife Vivian, whom I love dearly.”
He also said the paper’s framing—that he was not with his current wife—was insulting.
The disagreement is rooted in a longer history between parent and daughter. Amal said she fell out with Fashanu in 2023 and. after claiming he signed up to star in ITV’s Dancing on Ice behind her back at a time when she claimed she was acting as his agent. she said they did not speak for nearly two years.
Fashanu denied that Amal was ever his agent, saying: “Amal has never been my agent, and does not speak for me.”
To explain why he chose to respond now, Fashanu said he spent days weighing public correction of what he described as claims about his life.
“On the one hand, I had people urging me to counter the claims publicly, and also some telling me to ignore it, even from my team,” he said. “It was a very difficult and hurtful choice, but had to be done to correct the damage.”
Underneath the headlines is a personal story that extends to Justin Fashanu. the uncle whose name is tied to Amal’s charitable work. Justin. the first openly gay professional footballer. died in May 1998 at 37 after being found hanged in a deserted lock-up garage he had broken into in Shoreditch. east London. Amal was nine at the time and is described as being one of the last people to see him alive after he visited the family home the previous night.
Amal said she would like to include something in Justin’s memory during her wedding, adding: “I would like in my wedding to do something in memory of Justin, maybe to set off some white doves. I would have loved him to have been there.”
Amal is the founder of The Justin Fashanu Foundation, set up in her uncle’s name to fight prejudice in professional sport and promote mental health awareness.
Fashanu’s side of the story is also built around motion and work. He said he is writing his autobiography with a UK writer, making time each weekend to write sections. He also said he is involved in charity fundraising and working on legal reform on issues in the UK and Nigeria. identifying failings and weaknesses in the foster care system. He said he is working with professionals including social workers to pinpoint gaps in child protection systems.
And yet. for this father and daughter. the argument has become inseparable from the practical questions that come with any family plan: Who is included?. Who speaks for whom?. And what does “health” mean when one person says it’s a mystery illness and the other says it’s simply emotional stress from ongoing legal battles.
Fashanu ended with a hope for distance to shrink back into something like reconciliation.
“I hope my daughter and I can eventually get past this painful and horrible time because at the end of the day, she is my daughter, but I need to keep some distance at this time.”
John Fashanu Amal Fashanu MISRYOUM Sports News footballer illness claim family feud wedding plans Nigeria land legal battle Abuja Lagos Madrid Mohamad Odaymat Vivian Justin Fashanu Foundation