Everton midfielder Dele Alli, has revealed how he was sexually abused at the age of six by his mother’s friend.
The England International said the abuse made him start smoking at seven even after being sent to Nigeria to learn discipline he was dealing with drugs at eight years old.
Dele Alli’s father, Kehinde Alli is from Oya state (Nigeria).
The 27-years-old in a tearful interview with England footballer Gary Neville, said he spent six weeks in rehab for a sleeping pill addiction after struggling to deal with the trauma of suffering sexual abuse.
Dele who was adopted at age 12, however, thanked his adopted parent, he did not mention their names but Wakadaily believe they were Alan and Sally Hickford.
He said: “At six I was molested by my mum’s friend, who was at the house a lot. My mum was an alcoholic,” said Alli.
“Then I was sent to Africa (to his father) to learn discipline and then I was sent back. (At) seven I started smoking, eight I started dealing drugs.
“An older person told me that they wouldn’t stop a kid on a bike, so I rode around with my football, and then underneath I’d have the drugs, that was eight.
Eleven, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate, a man.
Twelve, I was adopted… I was adopted by an amazing family like I said, I couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they’d done for me. If God created people, it was them,” he told the Overlap.
Dele Alli added that he hopes by speaking out he can help others that have suffered similar abuse.
He added that a six-week spell in rehab has helped rekindle his passion to get his football career back on track.
“Going into rehab is definitely scary but I could never have imagined how much I would get from it and how much it would help me mentally. I was in a bad place. A lot happened when I was younger that I could never understand.”
Dele also warned that the dangers of sleeping pill addiction are widespread in football, where players are often prescribed tablets before and after matches.
“I got addicted to sleeping tablets and it’s probably a problem that not only I have, I think it’s something that’s going around more than people realise in football,” he said.
“To take a sleeping tablet and be ready for the next day is fine, but when you’re broken as I am, it can obviously have the reverse effect because it does work for the problems you want to deal with.”
