Iyabo Abade: 7 things to know about ex-female player turn male who needs N69.7m to father a child

Former Super Falcons star Iyabo Abade, now known as James Johnson, has requested N69.7 million in financial aid from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

Iyabo Abade is one high-profile case of a hermaphrodite in women’s football who subsequently had surgery in 2004 and is now living as a man with a new name, James Johnson.

Iyabo Abade - a hermaphrodite (70% male, 30% female), played for Nigeria's National Team, the Super Falcons but later changed her name to Johnson James when she changed sex to live as a man.

After a series of incidents on and off the pitch, at 19, Abade decided to undergo surgery and changed his name to James Johnson.

Abade was born with an intersex condition, having both male and female reproductive organs which is called hermaphroditism.

A hermaphrodite is a person with both male and female organs - though the condition is quite common in animals, it is rare in human beings.

Abade played football in Nigeria for the Nigerian women’s national team and was a member of the Super Falcons from 1997 to 2000. She was later dismissed from the team after they discovered she had both male and female sex organs.

She played for FCT Queens in the Nigeria Women's Football Legaue and won the Challenge Cup with the team.

After deciding to identify as a man, Abade has since played for men's teams in Nigeria's top division, including NEPA and Plateau United in the Nigeria Premier Football League.

Abade was discovered in the Agege area of Lagos as he was hunted by a local football coach.

In 2004, Abade underwent surgery to become a man and identify as Johnson James; he got support for the sex change operation in the United States from Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the former minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

Having played for the Super Falcons, James reportedly aspired to be the first player to compete for both the Nigerian men's and women's national teams, though his intersex condition has hindered this ambition.

The Former football star desires to have children but requires further corrective surgery to achieve full male reproductive function.

The surgery will cost N69.7 million, and Abade has reached out to the Nigeria Football Association to help fund the surgical operation so that he can become a father.