Prince Ikpe Ekong is a Nigerian footballer playing midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

, currently a free agent.

Career

After the 1994 World Cup

1994 FIFA World Cup

The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...

 a series of Nigerian players was brought to the European top leagues, and Ikpe Ekong was signed by Italian club A.C. Reggiana

A.C. Reggiana 1919

Associazione Calcio Reggiana 1919 is an Italian association football club, based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1919 as A.C. Reggiana and refounded in July 2005 as Reggio Emilia F.C., but it was renamed A.C. Reggiana 1919 soon after the start of the 2005–06 season. The...

, then coached by Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti is an Italian football manager, Nicknamed Carletto, Ancelotti played as a midfielder and had a successful career with Roma – captaining the team – with whom he won one Scudetto and 4 Coppa Italia and was part of the legendary late 80's Milan team, with whom he won two Scudetti and...

.

A.C. Reggiana

However due to Italian rules regarding non-EU players, he could not play for the first team in Serie A

Serie A

Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

, he ended up going on a loan to NK Koper from Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

, when he returned to Italy he was loaned out again to Tecos UAG of Mexico, then AC Bellinzona

AC Bellinzona

AC Bellinzona is a Swiss football club based in Bellinzona. It was founded in 1904, and won the Swiss Super League in 1948.-History:Since Bellinzona is an Italian speaking region, many Italian Serie A clubs loan youth players to the club to get first team experience. AS Roma are a parent club to...

 from Switzerland and FCM UTA from Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. It would not be until 2000 when Prince Ikpe Ekong returned to Italy to play for A.C. Reggiana. However Reggiana had fallen down to Serie C2 where no non-EU players where allowed, and this led to Ikpe Ekong filing a lawsuit

Lawsuit

A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...

 against the Italian FA, which he won, allowing him to play in Serie C2.

Allsvenskan

In 2003 he moved to China and Changsha Ginde and later Xiamen Lanshi

Xiamen Lanshi

Xiamen Lanshi is a defunct Chinese football club, which was located in Xiamen, Fujian. They were founded in the 1996 league season and their nickname was the "Blue Lions" while they played in the Xiamen Stadium. Throughout their history they would twice win promotion to the top tier of Chinese...

. In 2006 four clubs where interested in signing him, French club CS Sedan

CS Sedan Ardennes

Club Sportif Sedan Ardennes, commonly referred to as CS Sedan or simply Sedan , is a French association football club based in Sedan. The club was formed in 1919 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. Sedan plays its home matches at the Stade Louis Dugauguez located...

, Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. from Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, Gençlerbirliği S.K. from Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 and GAIS

GAIS

Göteborgs Atlet- och Idrottssällskap is a Swedish football club based in Gothenburg, currently playing in Allsvenskan. The club is commonly referred to simply as GAIS, while its fans also refers to the club as grönsvart or the mackerels because of the traditional shirt colours...

 from Sweden. He chose GAIS after he visited the club and then visited a local church where he heard God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 tell him to sign for GAIS. In 2008 he left GAIS to sign for Allsvenska

Allsvenskan

Allsvenskan is a Swedish professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Swedish football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Superettan...

 rivals Djurgårdens IF. He was bought out of his contract with Djurgården in November 2011 after having played none of the games in the 2011 season.

External links

• Prince Ikpe Ekong on National-Footaball-Teams.com
• World Soccer profile
• Prince Ikpe Ekong at Playerhistory.
• Prince Ikpe Ekong at Transfermarkt.