Super Eagles and Fulham centre-back Calvin Bassey had a brilliant AFCON 2025 campaign, but his name has come up in some off-field drama, Soccernet.ng reports.
The defender’s biological father, Kingsley Ikenna Ughelumba, has opened up about his long and painful separation from his children, Bassey included, in a situation that has lasted almost 18 years.
The story came to light through an interview Kingsley granted on TikTok Live with Helen Atti, although rumours had been circulating before his admission.
One of the questions many Nigerian football fans have often asked is why Calvin Bassey does not share the same surname as his father. According to Kingsley, the reason is rooted in a prolonged family dispute that began many years ago.
Get Our Sports News First – Join Our WhatsApp Channel Now!
Calvin Bassey’s family dilemma
When Bassey signed for SPFL side Rangers in 2020, he mentioned his mother was ecstatic about the feeling, and chose to don her name on the back of his jersey as a ‘thank you’ for all of the sacrifices she made.
Quizzed about his father, the then 20-year-old kept it simple and short, saying the man isn’t in his life anymore.
“She was praying and jumping up and down. It was disbelief, but I was happy to put a smile on her face as she sacrificed a lot for us boys,” Bassey said in quotes revealed by Brila.
“My dad? He’s just not in my life. We lived with him, but that was when I was really young. Since I was six, it has been Mum and us boys.
“I knew that if I got the chance to put my name on the back of a shirt, I wanted it to be my mum’s name, my way of saying thank you.
Bassey’s father, Kingsley, has now given a breakdown of what led to the separation of the family. Following a serious rift between himself and Calvin’s mother, he was completely cut off from all four of his sons.
Kingsley claimed the decision was deliberate and motivated by bitterness, leaving him unable to see or communicate with his children, although he omitted the initial cause of the rift.
Despite making repeated attempts to resolve the situation peacefully, Kingsley said he was forced to seek legal intervention in London.
In 2008, a judge reportedly advised both parents to settle their differences privately for the sake of the children. Unfortunately, that advice did not lead to reconciliation.
Considering his papers in the UK had expired, and he didn’t have a job, he had no choice but to return to Italy, where Calvin Bassey and his brothers were born and raised.
“I drove all the way from London to Leicester City when Calvin was playing there. I wasn’t looking for him because he was a footballer.
“I was meant to see my first son, but I didn’t have access to him; I didn’t have his phone number. Their mum changed everything about them.
“When I got to Leicester, the club welcomed me. I told them to call him ‘Bigi’, so he’ll know who was asking of him.
“Then he spoke with me and gave me an address. I went to his house, and when he saw me, he picked up the phone.
“He called his mother, and then changed drastically. He got upset, told me to say what I had to say, and then leave,” Kingsley Ughelumba said.
After the incident at Leicester, Bassey’s father tried to reach him again during the AFCON 2023 tournament in Ivory Coast, but his effort came to fruition.
He revealed the only time the mother of his four boys reached out was when they needed to sort out their Nigerian passports ten years ago.
Still, Kingsley insists that his plea is not driven by fame or financial gain, but by a father’s desire to reunite with his sons and rebuild a family bond that was broken many years ago. In his words, he’s been dying in silence.
The Fulham centre-back has not publicly addressed the situation and continues to focus on his football career after a brilliant outing in Morocco.
