Khalilou Fadiga (born 30 December 1974) is a Senegalese former 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 played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He also holds a Belgian passport.

Club career

Early career

Fadiga moved to France when he was six years old. Fadiga began his career at

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

in France, but failed to make an impression, and so was transferred to fellow Parisian club,

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

, before moving to Belgian club

RFC Liège Royal Football Club de Liège (more commonly known as RFC Liège) is a professional football club based in Liège, Belgium. It currently plays in the Belgian First Amateur Division. Its matricule is 4, meaning that it was the fourth club to regi ...

Lommel

It was in Belgium that he found the profile that was to launch his international career. After one season he moved from FC Liège to Lommel, which is now

KVSK United Lommel SK is a Football in Belgium, Belgian association football club based in the city of Lommel, Limburg (Belgium), Limburg, that competes in the Challenger Pro League. History The roots of the club date back to the 1920s when the club V ...

. He played two seasons at Lommel before he was spotted by

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

Club Brugge

Fadiga quickly became a fan favorite. He scored nine goals in 67 appearances. In September 2000, the midfielder returned to France when he signed for

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division o ...

Auxerre

In all, he played in 82 league games for the French club, scoring 10 goals as well as appearing in the Champions League and

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

during season 2002–03. In his final season at Auxerre he helped them win the 2002–03 Coupe de France, playing in the final as they defeated

Paris St Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

Internazionale

Fadiga moved to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

in the summer of 2003, but the discovery of heart problems did not allow him to feature for the Italian club, apart from appearing in a few friendly games during the Summer. He was released from the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

side after just one season, but decided against retirement despite the heart problems.

Bolton Wanderers

English club

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

signed Fadiga for the 2004–05 season, after he passed a medical. However, before he made an appearance for Bolton, he collapsed prior to a match in October, and had to be fitted with a

defibrillator Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a ''coun ...

due to an irregular heartbeat. Despite stating his desire to return to the game, medical specialists urged him to retire, warning that if during a game his chest was knocked the defibrillator could fail, leading to instant death. However, following a period of rest and passing a medical, Fadiga returned to the Bolton squad in early 2005 and played in five games. At the start of the 2005–06 campaign Fadiga was loaned to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

of the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

, making four appearances. On his return to the

Reebok Stadium The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming righ ...

he took part in ten games, two of them in the

, before eventually being released in May 2006.

Coventry City

Without a club at the start of the 2006–07 season, he went on trial with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and played for their reserve team. He also had trials at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

before eventually signing a four-month contract with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

on 23 February 2007. In April 2007 he suffered a serious Achilles injury in the home game against Preston and it ended his time at Coventry.

Return to Belgium

He has since been released and returned to his wife's homeland signing with

AA Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (, English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Ghent or by their nickname ' ( en, The Buffalos), is a Belgian sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football ...

. After one year he moved in June 2008 to

K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...

, but left Beerschot after short time in December 2008. He signed for Third Division club

KSV Temse Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren Temse often simply called Lokeren-Temse or Lokeren) is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Lokeren, in the province of East Flanders. The club was originally founded in 1945 as KSV Temse ...

in 2011 before retiring from the game.

Personal life

Fadiga is married with a Belgian and has two kids,

Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

and Naoel. Noah followed in his footsteps as a professional footballer.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fadiga goal.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fadiga, Khalilou 1974 births Living people Association football midfielders Senegalese footballers Senegal international footballers Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Red Star F.C. players Club Brugge KV players AJ Auxerre players Inter Milan players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players 2002 FIFA World Cup players French footballers French sportspeople of Senegalese descent Senegalese emigrants to France Naturalised citizens of Belgium Belgian people of Senegalese descent Belgian footballers Footballers from Dakar Footballers from Île-de-France Ligue 1 players Belgian Pro League players Premier League players K.A.A. Gent players Beerschot A.C. players Senegalese expatriate footballers French expatriate footballers Belgian expatriate footballers Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy 2000 African Cup of Nations players Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Italy Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England 2002 African Cup of Nations players