Konaté Opens Up About Playing Through Depression
Ibrahima Konaté has spoken about playing through much of this Liverpool FC season with depression after experiencing the passing of Diogo Jota, as well as his own father this past year.
Speaking with France Inter radio station whilst prepping for the World Cup with the French national team, Ibou had this to say about Jota’s passing:
“Even today it’s hard to believe. His locker was still there in the dressing room, and every day when I was going to training he was coming with us. I remember when I found out when I was in Los Angeles and I couldn’t believe it. It devastated me. I didn’t have any interest in anything else at that point. It was the last person anyone would have chosen this to happen to. He didn’t care about anything. He just wanted to be happy and to have a good time with his team-mates and his family. He wasn’t interested in fame. He was my neighbour as well, so I shared a few more moments with him. It was something powerful that happened to all of us.”
“You go back to football because you have no choice. We’re employees at a club that pays us every month, so we have duties. I think every fan was affected by this too, and I think all that we can do to help them is by winning games. We had no choice but to go back on the field and play for him and his family – as well as ourselves. There’s no way of getting over it, but you learn to live with it.”
On his father, Konaté said:
“I’ve never spoken about it before, but it’s true that at the start of the season, my father was in hospital for several weeks. And actually, in my situation, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know whether I should go home and stop playing, because the team needed me too. I didn’t know who to talk to about it, so I kept it all to myself. And this is the advice I’d give to everyone listening: when you’re feeling down or something’s going on, you need to talk to those around you. It can help you and do you good. I didn’t talk about it and kept it to myself. The doctors then told us he didn’t have long to live, but we didn’t know it would happen so quickly.”“There was never a moment when I felt like I was on the mend. All of these tragic events happened so quickly and, as soon as I felt like I was getting my head above water, something else happened. But then I had the support of all these fans, who are exceptional at Liverpool. My team-mates and especially my family, but I also had to learn how to get back on my feet on my own because the team needed me more than ever. And I told myself that it happens to everyone every day, and I know that my father would have wanted me to get back.”
“There are low points, there’s depression. And I think depression is something much deeper, and that it’s an illness people live with every day. You can suffer from depression in football too; there’s no need to be ashamed to say so. And it can be triggered by anything and everything. It’s true that I’ve often heard players say they were suffering from depression and that fans or people on the outside didn’t understand because they were earning a lot of money. But no, that’s rubbish and you shouldn’t say that. Depression is personal; it’s deep inside you. When you’re depressed, it starts in the heart, goes up to the brain and takes over your whole body. For me, that’s what’s hard, and we need to talk about it.”
For so many reasons, it was a trying season for everyone involved. I think with more time and distance, and with the eventual reveal of more details, there will be a greater understanding of what this group of players had to go through. All the best with everything, Ibou.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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