Olalekan Ibrahim Babatunde (born 29 December 1984) is a Nigerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a striker for Swiss 4. Liga club FC Ravecchia.

Career

A striker, Babatunde began his career in Italy where he entered the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

in 2008. After a brief stint with

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...

, he made his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

debut in the 2002–03 season for

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

against his former club Parma, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for

Claudio Ferrarese Claudio Ferrarese (born 7 September 1978) is a retired Italian footballer. Biography Born in Verona, Veneto, Ferrarese started his professional career at Hellas Verona F.C. Ferrarese also played for Virtus Verona before he was signed by Hellas. ...

in a 2–3 away loss at

Stadio Ennio Tardini Stadio Ennio Tardini, commonly referred to as just Il Tardini, is a football stadium in Parma, Italy, located near the centre of Parma, between the town centre and the city walls. It is the home of Parma Calcio 1913. The stadium was built in 19 ...

. After only two appearances in Serie A, and three in the

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

the following season, after Piacenza had suffered relegation, Babatunde had spells in Belgium, at

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

, and then in Malta, at Msida St. Joseph. At the latter, he was voted as the Malta Football Best Foreign Player award. In 2007, he signed with

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

club AC Horsens. He was first the subject of racist taunts in a match on 26 September 2007 against

Næstved Boldklub Næstved Boldklub is a Danish association football team based in Næstved in the South of Zealand. Næstved Boldklub is the professional superstructure of the parent club Næstved Idræts Forening (Næstved IF) and currently plays in the Danish ...

. Babatunde was the subject of racism again in a friendly against

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., simply as KSV Holstein or Kieler SV Holstein, commonly known as Holstein Kiel (), is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s thro ...

in January 2018, when Kiel-player

Peter Schyrba Peter Schyrba (born October 17, 1980) is a German footballer who played in the 2. Bundesliga for MSV Duisburg and Hansa Rostock. External links

* 1980 births Living people German men's footballers German people of Polish descent MSV Duisbur ...

called him "an animal". In 2008, Babatunde returned to Italy to play for Nocerina. With the

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

-based team he won the

2008–09 Serie D Serie D, the fifth level of Italian Football, is usually composed of 162 teams divided into nine 18-team divisions. Special relegation of four teams from the professional leagues above Serie D after the team list had been set increased the total n ...

title and subsequent promotion to the

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978� ...

. Following an injury, he left the club in 2010. In February 2011, Babatunde returned to Malta, reaching an agreement with

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara) is a city in the central region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous parishes: Saint Helen, Saint Joseph the Worker, Ou ...

. At the end of the season he left the club when his contract expired, and in March 2013, he joined

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga is a professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia. Organised by the Latvian Football Federation, the Higher League is contested by 10 clubs. The full name of the league is Op ...

champions

Daugava , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic Se ...

and helped them win the

Latvian Supercup The Latvian Supercup () is a one-match annual football competition. The two participating clubs are holders of the Latvian Higher League champions title and the Latvian Football Cup. The fixture is played before the start of the season. The fir ...

. In September 2014 he moved to the

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الأولى), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. There are 12 teams competing in the league, ...

side

Racing Beirut Racing Club (), known as Racing Beirut or simply Racing, is a football club based in Achrafieh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . They play their home matches at the Fouad Chehab Stadium and are primarily supported by the ...

, before returning to Italy in 2015 playing for amateur clubs Saronno, Garda, Vedeggio, Novazzano and Real Melegnano the following years. In July 2021, Babatunde made his footballing comeback signing for

FC Locarno FC Locarno is a Swiss football club based in Locarno in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ...

in the sixth-tier Swiss 2. Liga.

Honours

Daugava *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

References

External links

Profile at Nigerianplayers.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babatunde, Ibrahim 1984 births Living people Nigerian footballers Association football forwards Nigerian expatriate footballers Parma Calcio 1913 players Msida Saint-Joseph F.C. players AC Horsens players S.S. Arezzo players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players R.A.E.C. Mons players FC Daugava players Racing Club Beirut players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Belgian Pro League players Danish Superliga players Latvian Higher League players Lebanese Premier League players Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Malta Expatriate footballers in Malta Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Latvia Expatriate footballers in Latvia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Lebanon Expatriate footballers in Lebanon Yoruba sportspeople Sportspeople from Lagos