Many ‘crazy’ personalities have blessed the stage of top football. Mario Balotelli, Joey Burton, Eric Cantona, Paulo di Canio… The controversy section of El Hadji Diouf’s CV is also packed. It seems that Senegal did not have a more debauched footballer because the ‘Serial Killer,’ as he was nicknamed, collected traffic violations while driving without a license, spat in the face of both rivals on the field and fans next to it, and was arrested for causing trouble in nightclubs.Objectively, problematic, on the other hand, a small child compared to a much less well-known compatriot who made money from football in the largest country in the world. Ibrahim Kebe Baye, or simply Ibra Kebe, spent most of his senior career in Russia, with Spartak Moscow where he moved from Senegal’s Jean Arc.He stayed with the Moscow giants from 2001 to 2004, and if you ask the chroniclers of Russian football, it could hardly have been more controversial. Kebe played in the Champions League, played against Liverpool, Valencia, guarded Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Pablo Aymar, but he is remembered more for his off-field gaffes than his football achievements, especially in relation to his teammates. All of Kebe’s antics were recalled by the Russian Sport Express, of course, with adequate interlocutors.”Kebe was completely unrestrained. He wasn’t a small bullet, but a large caliber ammunition. He always took offense during training sessions, he didn’t even tackle at the feet, he went for the back. He was always fighting with Ananko, sparks were flying.” former Spartak midfielder Maxim Kalinichenko recalled, and Dmitriy Ananko himself confirmed the stories about Kebe’s strange behavior: “Yes, he would come to training with different socks, one white, the other red. Or he would come to the dining room in national costume. He would often bring food into the room, and the maids would later talk about how he threw bones under the bed.”Kebe vs Diouf (©Getty Images)In addition to the fact that he went too hard during training sessions and risk injuries to his teammates, there were also situations in which he went literally too far.”You just can’t keep people like that in the team. I could be running all training and suddenly feel a kick on the shinbone. A lot of players fought with Kebe. He was completely crazy. And if you punish him, maybe he could have taken a knife in his hands,” said Pavel Pogrebnyak, alluding to the story of former Spartak players, how the Senegalese once waited for Serbian footballer Slavko Matić in front of the club bus with a knife in his hands.”Kebe was all over the place. During training, I would jump in to protect other teammates. If you only knew how many fights we had because of him but usually people would jump in immediately and separate. There was something else I couldn’t understand – Kebe used to go home, don’t show up for months and everyone forgave him,” Pogrebnyak added to the mosaic about Kebe.There were also situations when Kebe would go to national team meet-ups, from which he would not return for weeks. Allegedly, he constantly had problems with his visa and passport. However, behind the official version was something completely different. Kebe confirmed this with a story for a correspondent of the Russian Sport Express in 2011.- Did you have friends in Spartak – Kebe was asked.”Only Africans and Brazilians… Flo, Moises, Robson. The connections with the Russian players did not work well,” replied the Senegalese.- Why was it like that?”They did not want to accept foreigners into their society.”##EDITORS_CHOICE##- You angered Spartak’s management with long absences in Senegal. Either you got a new passport, or you didn’t get an entry visa…? stated the Sport Express journalist.”I didn’t want to talk about it before, but now I’m ready to explain. I didn’t want to go back to a club where racism flourished. But I had a contract and my brothers convinced me to come back. I resisted, but in the end, I agreed I am with them,” said Kebe, and then answered the question of whether he has good memories from Spartak: “They are strictly football-related. The team led by Oleg Romantsev played spectacularly. Everyone rejoiced in the Luzhniki Stadium locker room when we defeated Zenit to become champions. Romantsev took a beer out of the carton and said to me – You, Kebe, should also drink. But I couldn’t. I’m a Muslim. I took a sip, then quickly went to the toilet and spat it out.”The biggest problem for Ibra Kebe, according to his personal admission, in Soviet sports, was racism.”I will never forget the name Beschastnykh as long as I live. There were five of us Africans in the team. Romantsev led the training session. Suddenly one of us hit him in the hand with a ball, and Beschastnykh said – this monkey hit me in the hand! I will never forget it. I didn’t know the meaning of that word then. But I asked Chise (Jerry Christian Chise a/n) to translate for me. And he did it. When the training ended, I approached Beschastnykh and asked – why did you say that about my friend? I am also African. So I’m a monkey too? And Beschastnykh answered – yes, I told you! And after that I broke everything in the hallway and at the small reception. I went up to my room and broke all the furniture. I felt so bad. An hour later, Beschastnykh knocked on the door of my room – ‘Open it,’ he said, ‘I want to talk.’ I told him we would never talk and I would never open up to him.”Kebe against Spartak in 2010 (©Getty Images)Many years later, Vladimir Beschastnykh also offered his version of these events.”It’s possible that something like that happened. But that doesn’t mean I’m racist. Besides, calling someone that isn’t just my fault. I don’t understand exactly what Kebe was alluding to. But his behavior, to be honest, wasn’t always been adequate. I don’t know if he hid the bones or not, but he always prolonged and made needless stops in training sessions. He didn’t come into conflict only with me. Kebe has to understand himself first. When I was younger, the veterans built me up. When I myself became a veteran, I thought it was my duty to educate the younger ones. Those who behaved appropriately became football players. Those who thought that someone conspired against them, did not do well.”One of the few Russians Kebe spoke highly of is coach Oleg Romantsev.”I would like to see Romantsev. I would very much like to visit him. I would hug him. Romantsev is a very good coach. I learned a lot from him at Spartak. He always explained what and how we should do on the field. He told me – Kebe , I know you are a good player. You can play in defense, on the left, in the center or as a defensive midfielder,” said Kebe.But Romantsev did not speak about the Senegalese in the same tone:”I could not find a common language only with those who did not accept my football. At one time Robson, Marcao, Chise, Mitrevski played for Spartak and I got along perfectly with all of them. But with Kebe it was very difficult. However, no one can dispute his qualities.”##NAJAVA_MECA_7763921##He was never afraid of harsh duels, tackles, or body-to-body collisions. But needles and injections – that’s a different story.”Kebe is a special case, sorry for the words, but incurable,” former Spartak doctor Yuri Vasilkov told Sport Express: “He is a good football player, there is no doubt about that. He was also a hunter. But when it came to communicating with doctors, I would have to drink validol myself. I remember in the training camp in Spain, his groin hurt and he needed an injection. But when he saw me with the syringe in my hand, he immediately locked himself in the room and did not go to dinner. I asked the coach of Grozny, Jugoslav Selkić, who sort of spoke his language, to try to explain to him in Senegalese that he needed the injection. We started to negotiate. The door to the room opened, but he wasn’t there. It turned out he had locked himself in the toilet where he sat until well into the night until we left.”Perhaps in 2001, he did change the continent, but he kept the habits acquired in his homeland. Former Spartak coach Sergey Juran recalled an interesting story.”Zilyayev, head of the team came to Kebe’s room and Kebe was sleeping on the floor. No unusual for African players. Zilyayev started scolding him, telling him to get on the bed. And Kebe just looked at him and said – I come from a tribe where they eat people. I’ll eat you too! Zilyayev came to complain to me, but I told him – don’t pay attention to Kebe, he likes to sleep on the floor. And as for the tribe- it’s the truth, he is a cannibal. After that, Zilyayev began to lock ten locks on his room’s door. He would also put pieces of furniture behind them.”
