Former player of PSG and OM in particular, Pascal Nouma played around ten matches in the Marseille jersey with cancer in the early 2000s, he has just revealed.
He's almost a survivor. Pascal Nouma (52 years old) has had an eventful career, both on and off the field, with various experiences in France and abroad. After making his debut at PSG, the former striker then played for Lille, Caen, Strasbourg and Lens before moving to Besiktas, where he became a real star. But after only one season in Türkiye, marked by several escapades, he returned to France, settling down in Marseille in September 2001.
“The club was not aware”
While OM was going through yet another crisis, everything did not go as planned for Pascal Nouma, who was faced with health concerns. After having a cyst “as big as a golf ball” removed from the back of his neck, his doctor told him he was suffering from “muscle cancer”. “I burst out laughing. I didn't take it seriously. For eight months, I was at the Nice clinic. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy… I played 11 matches at OM with cancer,” he told Ouest-France.
Except that the Olympian club was not aware of his illness. “I always felt tired, I didn't understand because I was coming off a great season with Besiktas. Doctor Gaillaud said to me: “I don’t know how you managed to play with cancer.” The club was not informed, medical confidentiality. The doc said I had a problem with my ankle…” he added.
But the leaders eventually learned the news. “Bernard Tapie comes into the locker room and says: 'Pascal Nouma has cancer of the skull, he is going to die!'”, indicated Pascal Nouma, who received the support of Besiktas supporters. The latter even went so far as to demand his return.
“I was told that 98% of people with my disease died”
“They screamed my name every game. They went to the club headquarters. 'We want Pascal Nouma to come back, if he has to die, he must die in Türkiye!' Supporters burned the front of the club's headquarters. Besiktas sent a doctor to France. A week later, he said on Turkish TV: “Pascal Nouma will not play at Besiktas again, because he could die at any moment”, he said, without really knowing the seriousness of his illness at the time.
“I learned about the seriousness of my cancer two years ago: I was told that 98% of people with my disease died,” revealed the former striker, who eventually returned to Besiktas the following season. But his return, after eight months of therapy, was not easy. “I had to relearn how to play football. It was like swimming across the Atlantic,” he explained.
And this second adventure ended short. He was fired by the Turkish club for simulating masturbation while celebrating a goal. After an experience in Qatar then in Scotland, he ended his career in 2006, but he continued to make a name for himself with an acting career and several participations in television shows in Turkey, where he keeps a significant popularity rating.
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