Fifa regulations state maternity leave for female footballers should be “a minimum period of 14 weeks’ paid absence” – eight weeks of which must be after the birth.
There is no specific stipulation on paternity leave, leaving those in the men’s game to juggle their responsibilities.
One club had a car on standby outside the ground for a player whose partner was soon due to give birth, while one manager at a top-flight European club did not travel to a match to be with his wife as she was about to have their second child.
Instead of being in the dugout, he watched the game on TV and relayed instructions to his coaching staff.
“I was on the earpiece to the bench and 10 minutes into the game she started getting labour pains,” said the manager, who is now working in the Championship.
“We were 2-1 up at half-time but she was getting more into labour. I rang the hospital to say we were going to come in, but had to stop because we got a penalty.
“We scored, I knew we won the game, and we came right in. Our daughter was born two hours later.
“It’s less common with managers because they are typically older but the game doesn’t stop… you need to win the next game.”
Doku would certainly not be the first player to put attending his child’s birth before football.
In 2018, Fabian Delph left England’s World Cup camp in Russia to return to the UK for the birth of his daughter.
David Silva, meanwhile, missed two Manchester City matches following the premature arrival of his son in 2018.
And former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea was given extended leave during the Covid pandemic when his partner Edurne gave birth to their daughter in 2021.
Others, though, have not been present.
Just this weekend, Norway defender Leo Ostigard watched his son being born on FaceTime, external while at the World Cup.
Ruben Neves had a similar experience in January 2021 – watching the birth of his third child on his phone from Wolves‘ team bus after a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.
His wife had returned to Portugal as her doctor was there, but Neves’ plans to join her were scuppered by travel restrictions because of the pandemic.
