Lukaku brothers heartbroken, claim they were ‘extorted’ over father’s funeral | OneFootball

Napoli striker Romelu Lukaku and former Lazio defender Jordan Lukaku announced they were being ‘extorted’ by people refusing to release their father’s body for his funeral in Belgium.

The brothers grew up in a football family, as their father Roger played as a centre-forward for Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) and spent most of his career in Belgium at various clubs until retirement in 2007.

Both his sons went on to represent Belgium at international level, but he died last month in the Democratic Republic of Congo, aged 58.

Lukaku brothers condemn ‘extortion’ over father’s funeral

Romelu Lukaku announces the untimely death of his father at the age of 58 (Picture via Instagram).

This afternoon, Romelu and Jordan Lukaku released a joint statement on social media revealing their plans for a funeral in Belgium had been ruined by a shocking situation.

“As you may know we planned to have the funeral this Friday but because of certain decisions being made in Kinshasa will the funeral take place over there,” read the statement.

“Our dad passed away on the 28 of September and we as Brothers tried everything to bring his corpse back to Europe but we felt that we were being extorted by some people…

“If our father was here today he wouldn’t accept it. It breaks our soul for us to not put our father to rest. But some people didn’t want it. “We understand know why our dad used to keep us away from a lot of people…

“God bless your soul.”

Romelu Lukaku is currently staying in Belgium for treatment to a serious muscular injury, which means he is not expected to be able to play again for Napoli until at least November or December.

Full-back Jordan is a free agent, as the 31-year-old’s contract with Turkish side Adanaspor was terminated in October 2024.

While in Italy, he played for Lazio and Vicenza from 2016 to 2022.