LONDON, June 24- Yaya Toure confesses he is still suffering after claiming that Manchester City denied him the chance to visit his dying brother.
Toure’s younger sibling, Ibrahim, passed away on Thursday after losing his battle against cancer, while his two brothers were preparing for Cote d’Ivoire’s Group C clash with Colombia at the World Cup.
The City midfielder admits that Ibrahim’s declining health had an adverse effect on him towards the end of the season, and revealed that the Premier League champions refused him permission to spend time with his brother in the weeks before his death.
The 2013 African Footballer of the Year told France Football: “I confess that I am still very sad. I’m suffering because I feel I have done nothing useful for him the last few weeks.
“At the end of the season, I wanted to stay for four or five days with my brother before I flew to prepare for the World Cup with Ivory Coast, except that City did not want to give me a few days.
“I went to celebrate the title championship in Abu Dhabi while my brother was in his sickbed. By fortune, Kolo was at his bedside. After that, I blame myself for not insisting and for not leading them to respect me.
“However, club officials knew that I had been suffering for a few months seeing the health of my brother decline. This is the reason I had several injuries at the end of the season, because my head had taken control of my body. These last four months have probably been the hardest in my life.
“I have had sporting success – except that when you get home and you find yourself facing the distress of someone you love, but you do not know how you can help, it’s not good.”
He and older brother, Kolo, were planning to return to Manchester, but their father advised that they stay in Brazil.
The 31-year-old added: “Doctors had left me with very little hope when I had left for the World Cup. During those days, he could not even respond to my calls as he was so tired.
“I also felt that brother Ismael and my sister Aicha, who had stayed with him in Manchester, were not telling me everything the last few days. Despite that, in these cases we always try and hold on to a miracle.
“The news came as a huge shock because I was very close to him. We spent two years apart, but we were very close. I know that I will no longer be able to hear him, sense him, see him, this feels awful, especially when you’re thousands of kilometres away.
“Luckily, I have Kolo with me. More than once, he has played big brother to me, finding the words to comfort me, keep me strong, talk to me.
“At one point, we thought about leaving Brazil for Manchester to see Ibrahim one last time. But our father advised against it, and we listened.”