Radja Nainggolan is a Belgian professional footballer who recently got arrested as part of cocaine smuggling investigations, find out more about him and his net worth
The veteran footballer was just one of several suspects apprehended by the Belgian police on Monday morning, following a series of raids across the country.
Who is Radja Nainggolan as footballer is arrested in cocaine smuggling bust, bio, age, height, family, parents, wife, tattoo, current club, salary and net worth
Former Belgium international Radja Nainggolan has been arrested as part of an investigation into cocaine trafficking into Europe from South America, the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office said.
🔗 More here: https://t.co/61lYwig9EH pic.twitter.com/Gv0oBvtat6
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 27, 2025
Radja Nainggolan returned to football at the weekend, scoring a goal from a corner.
Today he was arrested for suspicion of involvement in smuggling/distributing cocaine.
Madness…😳 pic.twitter.com/82mppkDFAQ
— george (@StokeyyG2) January 27, 2025
Notably, the shocking arrest comes just six days after Nainggolan came out of retirement and signed for Belgian second division club Lokeren.
The Belgian midfielder even scored on his debut match, helping his side secure a 1-1 home draw against K. Lierse.
Radja Nainggolan bio
Radja Nainggolan is a Belgian professional footballer who was born on May 4, 1988, in Antwerp, Belgium. He was born to parents Lizy Bogaerts and Marianus Nainggolan, and he has three half-brothers and a twin sister. Lizy Bogaerts is a Belgian of Flemish ethnicity, while Marianus Nainggolan is an Indonesian of Toba Batak background.
Radja was raised in Kiel, which is a working-class and multicultural neighbourhood located in Antwerp. Nainggolan grew up with his siblings and his mother, as his father abandoned the family when he was still young. Nainggolan’s mother passed away in 2010, following which he tattooed two large wings on his back with her dates of birth and death. Radja grew up as a Roman Catholic and can fluently speak Dutch, English, French, and Italian.
Nainggolan married Claudia Lai, with the couple being parents to daughters Aysha born in 2012 and Mailey born in 2016. His twin sister, Riana, is a footballer as well.
Age and height
Radja Nainggolan is currently 36 years old and stands at a height of 1.77m.
Career
Radja Nainggolan mainly plays as a central midfielder and spent most of his professional career playing in Italy. He went by the nickname Il Ninja and played for clubs in Serie A like Roma, Inter Milan, Piacenza, and Cagliari. Throughout his career, he made a total of 367 appearances and scored 48 goals in the Serie A. He also featured in the Serie A Team of the Year for four consecutive times.
He currently plays for Challenger Pro League club Lokeren-Temse. Aside from his club career, Nainggolan has also represented the Belgian national team for eight years between 2009 and 2018. During those years, he made a total of 30 appearances, scoring six goals and representing them at Euro 2016.
Radja Nainggolan earned £700 per week, £36,400 per year playing for Bhayangkara Presisi Indonesia FC as a DM and his net worth is £33,872,800.
Radja Nainggolan Player Salary ; Years. Weekly Salary. Annual Salary ; 2021-2022. €38,462. €2M ; 2020-2021. €160,192. €8.3M ; 2019-2020. €106,923. €5.5M ; 2018-2019
Radja Nainggolan has an Instagram account with the handle @radja_nainggolan_l4, where he has over 1.6 million followers and 534 posts.