The mother of two children of the ex-striker of Dynamo Kyiv Brown Ideye, Ukrainian Yana Voloshchenko, spoke about the difficult situation that she had with this football player. Recently, Yana published a post on Instagram, where she demanded that Ideye pay off the child support debt that the football player must pay to two children.
“When the war started, he never once asked: how are the children there, is everything okay with them”
— Yana, what are your current claims to Idea?
- In 2016, we had proceedings with lawyers due to the fact that Brown did not want to acknowledge paternity of our children. As a result, the case did not reach the court. Brown acknowledged paternity and agreed to pay child support. He signed a settlement agreement stating that Brown is the father of my children. My children have the surname Ideye.
In principle, Brown always paid child support, although sometimes there were delays. At the same time, he did not meet with the children, he was allegedly offended by me for fanning the scandal.
But in January 2022, everything changed dramatically, and he stopped paying alimony. When the war started, he never once asked how the children were, if everything was fine with them. My lawyers tried to contact him because there was a question of children leaving Ukraine. By law, I can take my children out of Ukraine, but he is listed as the father in the documents, and there is a difficult situation with leaving. And when the war started, I could not leave with the children. At the moment we are in Ukraine.
Brown on Instagram constantly talked about how sad he was that the war had begun in Ukraine, but, nevertheless, he did nothing for the children.
— Did you personally try to contact him?
- He doesn't react at all. My lawyers are trying to get in touch with him, but to no avail. Now they are trying to meet with the Ukrainian ambassador in Kuwait, where Brown plays, to try to influence him through the club.
Brown is very afraid of being bad in the eyes of the public. He exposes pictures with his wife Dame and their children. I'm not against his children, but I want there to be justice, and that he abide by the contract that he signed.
"I found out that he was married when I was already pregnant"
— When did Ideye last see the children?
- The last time he met with them was back in 2014, when we had a relationship.
— Do the children remember him?
- Of course! Children remember him very well and know who their father is. But now it comes to absurdity. When the eldest son Joel wrote to Brown, he simply blocked him on Instagram. I don't know, maybe he thought that I wrote it. But the child was very upset because he remembers Brown well.
— Tell me, how did you meet Ideye?
— It was by accident. We were introduced by his friend in a cafe. He was a businessman, not from the football crowd. I was far from football and did not know that Brown was a Dynamo Kyiv player. I first learned about this when he invited me to the Kiev game. Therefore, I find it funny when they say that Brown is a football star. For me, he's just a guy that I dated, and now this guy is not acting like a man.
- When did you find out that he had a wife and children in Nigeria?
- I found out that he was married when I was already pregnant. He said that he has a child from an African girl, he lives in Nigeria. But he never said that he was married, especially since he did not wear a ring.
I found out about this by reading an article on the Dynamo website about his family. I asked him what it means. He said it was his African family. I say: "We decided to separate for six months," but Brown said that he wanted a child from me. We agreed that he would help financially.
But six months later, female stupidity played its role, and we got back together.
"Brown owes $130,000"
- When did you finally break up with him?
- In 2014, I was pregnant with his daughter - Michelle. Brown then signed a contract with West Brom and flew to London. I got used to it that the players are absent for a long time. We agreed that as soon as the child was born, either I would move in with him or he would come to us. Subsequently, no one went to anyone.
He kept postponing our meeting. As a result, in the summer he disappeared altogether. I tried to find out from mutual friends what was going on, but no one answered me. Although in social networks he led an active lifestyle. It infuriated me. Then I turned to a law office and something happened that you already know about.
- It turns out that Ideya has not been paying child support for a year already - from January of last year to January 2023. How much does he owe for this period?
- 130 thousand dollars. But this is no longer a matter of money, although there is a large amount, but a matter of common sense.
- How did you resolve the issue with Ideye in 2016 that he agreed to resolve everything peacefully?
“Because there was a lot of publicity. Then everyone started calling him and saying: “Brown, did you leave your children in Ukraine?” He had the image of an ideal family man, and here it is.
My lawyers then even contacted Artem Milevsky so that he would somehow influence him. Milevsky talked to him. As a result, Brown got in touch and asked to peacefully resolve the issue.
“It turns out he has illegitimate children in every country where he played”
- If Ideye tries to renew relations with you, will you return to him?
- Our relationship is over, and I will not resume it. But he has obligations to the children, which he has undertaken to fulfill. No matter how scary it may sound, but in this situation I was more shocked by Brown than by the war. I did not expect such an act from him during the war.
I hope that he just had a temporary clouding of his mind and it will pass soon. The question is definitely not in the material component, with money everything is fine with him.
But I am not against his communication with children. My son is ten years old and my daughter is eight. Maybe they still do not fully understand what is happening, but Joel no longer wants to communicate with him personally.
I also learned a very interesting moment from Brown's biography. It turns out that he has illegitimate children in every country where he played. But he did not recognize a single child, except ours. That's the kind of bad person he is.
— Is the idea greedy or not? What kind of gifts did he give you and the children when you had a normal relationship?
- He was not greedy. Every month when he received a salary, he gave a certain amount for children. When he was in Kyiv, everything was fine, there were no problems.
But Brown is used to others doing everything for him. He constantly needs to be told what to do. He played football, earned money, and I was dragging our relationship. In addition, I am a psychologist by education and constantly supported him.
Brown was very vulnerable to criticism and constantly worried about it. In fact, he has a very weak character. I told him that he was cool and that everything would work out for him. I will not take credit for his goals and achievements in Dynamo, but I have always supported him.
— Did Ideye take you to football parties with Dynamo players and their wives?
— No, we had a more closed life. Besides, I didn't really like parties.
Andrey Piskun