Former Chelsea and Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has announced that he and his wife, Martina, have ended their relationship after 26 years together.
The 43-year-old shared the news in an emotional Instagram post alongside a black-and-white photo of Martina kissing him on the cheek.
“Martina and myself are sad to announce that we are separating after 26 years together. We remain best friends and immensely proud of our two children,” Cech wrote.
The couple met in high school in 1999 and married in 2003. They have two children, Adela, 17, and Damian, 16, who are both pursuing careers in football. Adela plays as a defender for Fulham and the Czech Republic’s under-17 team, while Damian is a goalkeeper who signed a professional deal with Fulham earlier this year.
Cech, a four-time Premier League winner with Chelsea, recalled missing the birth of Adela in 2008 due to club commitments ahead of a League Cup semi-final against Everton. “It was the best day of my life and at the same time the saddest,” he told People magazine at the time. “I was happy to be a father and proud of my wife, but sad to have missed the birth. My daughter decided she would come in the middle of the night without me being able to do anything, so I had to wait glued to the phone.”
Speaking in a past interview, Cech said he never pressured his children into football. “I didn’t push my children into football, but they found it anyway. They just live with my name, so they have been the target of comparison since they were young.”
On the same day he announced the separation, Cech shared his thoughts on leadership through Glow21, a movement focused on modern leadership. “I believe that leadership is very similar in both sport and business. A true leader motivates the team, communicates effectively, and brings out the best in people,” he wrote.
