Apoula Edima Bete Edel (; born 17 June 1986) is a 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 lea ...

who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Cameroon, he played for the Armenia national team.

Club career

Early career

Apoula Edel was born in

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

and moved to Armenia in 2002. He signed a contract with Pyunik FC in March 2003. In 2005, he joined

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

along with Carl Lombé, by unilaterally terminating his contract without just reason. Pyunik FC submitted the case to FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber. The DRC passed a decision on 4 April 2007 and sent the decision to the parties on 3 August, in which Edel was ordered to pay Pyunik US$15,000. He also claimed he was forced to naturalise during the court trial as an excuse to leave the country in 2005. The parties submitted the appeal to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

and CAS partially upheld the DRC decision, and increased the fee to US$60,000 in 2008.

Paris Saint-Germain

After being released by Rapid București, French club PSG signed Edel on a free transfer. Following his signing for the club, Edel was a second choice goalkeeper behind Mickaël Landreau, Jérôme Alonzo and

Grégory Coupet Grégory Coupet (born 31 December 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Coupet is most well known for his lengthy career at Lyon where he won seven Ligue 1 titles. He also played for Saint-Étienne, Atlét ...

. On 16 November 2007, he played his first game with PSG in a friendly game against Guinea, not as a goalkeeper but as a forward, after an injury to

Loris Arnaud Loris Arnaud (born 16 April 1987) is a French professional footballer who currently plays as a forward for Championnat National 3 club Chatou. Early career Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Arnaud was raised in Chatou, western Paris. He started p ...

. In his second season for PSG, Edel made his debut in a

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

against

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), known as AS Nancy Lorraine, and more commonly as Nancy, is a French football club founded in 1967 and based in Nancy, Grand Est. The club plays its home matches at the Stade Marcel Picot located in Tomb ...

, with PSG winning 2–1. Edel made his UEFA Cup debut against

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

. Under Le Guen, Edel made just 4 appearances. After Le Guen was sacked as PSG manager,

Antoine Kombouaré Antoine Krilone Kombouaré (; born 16 November 1963) is a French professional football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of club Nantes. Playing career Born in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, Komboua ...

succeeded him. Under Kombouaré, Edel started to get more playing time and established himself as a first choice goalkeeper after Grégory Coupet suffered an injury to his malleolar on 28 November 2009 which kept him out of the season. On 16 December 2009, Edel made his league debut for PSG in a 1–1 draw

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

. On 21 January 2010, Edel scored an own goal in a 1–0 defeat to

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

which turned out to be the winner. Edel played as PSG won the 2010 Coupe de France Final. After Coupet recovered from injury, Edel was once again second choice goalkeeper but it was short lived after due to Coupet's poor performance and discouragement in the early season. On 29 November 2010, Edel made a blunder in a match against Lyon as PSG missed the chance to go to the top of Ligue 1. Edel performance was defended by Kombouaré saying ''"I have nothing against Edel, I even have a thought for him. He is the most disappointed because his mistake cost us the win. Now we will support him and it will be up to him to erase that mistake.There is a lot of frustration, because we showed big mental strength and a lot of technical qualities too"'' Towards the end of the season, Coupet regained his first choice goalkeeper when he play against Lyon on 17 April 2011. Afterwards, Edel was still the first choice goalkeeper for two more matches, before Coupet regained the spot again until the season finished. As his contract was set to expire at the end of the season, reports claimed that Edel could be on his way out of the club in the summer, with speculation regarding a possible replacement doing the rounds, but chairman Robin Leproux says Edel (along with

Ludovic Giuly Ludovic Vincent Giuly (born 10 July 1976) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. Giuly represented France national football team, France at international level, gaining 17 Cap ...

and

Mamadou Sakho Mamadou Sakho (born 13 February 1990) is a French professional Association football, footballer who most recently played as a centre-back for Erovnuli Liga club FC Torpedo Kutaisi, Torpedo Kutaisi. Sakho began his career at Paris FC before mov ...

) would be staying put. Eventually, Edel declined to stay at PSG after his contract was finished, and he joined an Israeli club

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv () is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as football, basketball, w ...

on a free transfer as a replacement for

Vincent Enyeama Vincent Enyeama (; born 29 August 1982) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Despite his below-average height for a goalkeeper, he is popularly regarded as one of the greatest African goalkeepers of all time ...

, who joined Lille.

Atlético de Kolkata

In August 2014, Edel was drafted by

Atlético de Kolkata ATK Football Club (also known as Atlético de Kolkata in association with Atlético Madrid) was an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competed in the ISL, the top flight of Indian football. They were ...

of the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

. He put up a number of good saves in

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, as the franchise became the champions of the inaugural season. He also won the

Maruti Suzuki Maruti Suzuki India Limited is a publicly listed Indian subsidiary of Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation. It is the largest automobile manufacturer in India, specialising in small cars. The company was established by the Government ...

Swift Moment of the match award.

International career

Edel, who was born and raised in Cameroon, has dual nationality and had decided to play international football for

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

under the French coach

Bernard Casoni Bernard René Michel Casoni (born 4 September 1961) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a defender. In his playing career he played for Olympique Marseille and France at Euro 1992. Career Managerial career ...

Personal life

There have been recurring accusations since 2009 that Édel is living under an assumed identity; that he is in fact five years older than his reported age, and his real name is Ambroise Beyaména. If the allegations were proved true and the player was found guilty, he could be sentenced to prison. Meanwhile, if false documents were lodged with the game's French and European governing bodies, Paris Saint-Germain risked losing their last two wins against Sevilla and Arles-Avignon. They could also face expulsion from the European competition, demotion from the top tier of French football, and heavy fines. Paris Saint-Germain, in partnership with Goom Radio, officially launched their own numerical radio station, the first ever dedicated to a

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

football club, which is also available over the internet. Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Apoula Edel was acquitted of possessing fake documents by the

French police Law enforcement in France is centralized at the national level. Recently, legislation has allowed local governments to hire their own police officers which are called the ''Municipal Police (France), police municipale''. There are two nation ...

as his passport was found to be genuine. As a result, UEFA rejected Sevilla's appeal to have their

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

defeat to Paris Saint-Germain overturned. After being clearing his name, Edel is ready to sue Nicolas Phillibert, his coach, of blackmailing. According to Phillibert, he paid for most of his expenses for two years and is still waiting for Edel to pay him back. Through his ongoing footballing career, Edel is also known to lead a fashionable lifestyle that includes friendships with leading designers in the clothing industry. Edel has often been hailed by his fashion peers for his understanding of

fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

and is often referred to as an understudy of illusionary French contemporary designers such as

Jean-Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 June 1952) is a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs including corset ...

and

Isabel Marant Isabel Marant (born 12 April 1967) is a French fashion designer, owner of the eponymous fashion brand. She won the Award de la Mode (1997), the Whirlpool Award for best female designer (1998), ''Fashion Designer of the Year'' at British ''Glamour' ...

. The Indian magazine

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

has mentioned Edel on several occasions for his often flamboyant mixture of Indian and Western European design and fashion. In 2016 India Today featured articles written with Edel in the magazines own lifestyle section. Because of the popularity of that particular segment, the magazine chose to circulate a special edition of the lifestyle section as a stand-alone magazine for an entire month. Subsequently, editor of India Today,

Madhu Trehan Madhu Purie Trehan (born 1940s) is an Indian journalist. She was also the co-founder and editor-in-chief of a digital media portal called ''Newslaundry''. Education Trehan studied at Welham Girls' School in Dehradun, graduating in 1962. In 196 ...

, indicated in interviews that the magazine experienced the highest circulation numbers since the launch of the magazine in 1975 because of Edels involvement.

Career statistics

Honours

Pyunik *

Armenian Premier League The Armenian Premier League (, known as the Armenian Fastex Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football, football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a regional tournament within th ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Armenian Cup The Armenian Cup () is the main football cup competition of Armenia. In its original form as the Armenian Cup, it started in 1939, when Armenia was a republic of the Soviet Union. It served as a qualification tournament for the Soviet Cup, and it ...

Rapid Bucuresti *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

: 2006–07 Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2009–10 Hapoel Tel Aviv *

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involves clubs of all standards ...

: 2011–12 Atlético de Kolkata *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Chennaiyin *Indian Super League:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Individual *Indian Super League Final Moment of the Match:

* Indian Super League Golden Glove:

References

External links

Indian Super League Profile
. * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edel, Apoula 1986 births Living people Footballers from Yaoundé Naturalized citizens of Armenia Armenian men's footballers Cameroonian men's footballers Armenia men's international footballers Armenian expatriate men's footballers Armenian Premier League players Liga I players FC Pyunik players FC Rapid București players Paris Saint-Germain FC players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players ATK (football club) players ATK (football club) draft picks Chennaiyin FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in India Men's association football goalkeepers Cameroonian emigrants to Armenia Ligue 1 players Indian Super League players Israeli Premier League players Armenian expatriate sportspeople in India