Cheick Tioté

Anderlecht

In 2005, he was scouted by Belgian club Anderlecht and signed a three-year contract with the club. After spending months at the club's reserve, he made his debut for Anderlecht in a Belgian Cup match which they lost to Geel after Tioté missed his penalty. The following month, Tioté made his UEFA Champions League debut, where he made his first start in Matchday 6 Group Stage, in a 1–0 loss against Real Betis. It was not until 18 March 2006 that he made his league debut for the club, coming on as a late substitute, in a 4–0 win over Beveren. After making another league appearance, Tioté went on to make four appearances in all competitions in the 2005–06 season. The following season saw Tioté make three appearances in all competitions, due to spending most of the season with injuries. In the 2007–08 season, he played on loan for Roda JC on a season-long loan deal, where he played alongside his countryman Sekou Cissé. After making his first start on his Roda JC debut, in a 5–3 win over VVV-Venlo on 2 September 2007, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 3–1 loss against Feyenoord. Since making an impact at Roda JC, he became the club's fan favourite there. On 27 December 2007 he scored his second Roda JC goal, in a 1–0 win over Heerenveen. On 4 April 2008, however, Tioté was sent off in the 33rd minute, in a 2–0 loss against NEC, which turns out to be his last appearance. After serving two match suspension for the rest of the season, he went on to make…

On 23 March 2009, Tioté was called up for the first time by the Ivory Coast, but did not play. After being called up once more in May, he made his international debut on 12 August in a friendly match against Tunisia. He was selected in the Ivory Coast's squad for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations squad and given the squad number 9. He started in all three of Les Éléphants' matches before their quarter final elimination by Algeria. Tioté also started each of the Ivory Coast's 2010 FIFA World Cup matches in South Africa, but the team did not advance to the second round. During one of the match against Brazil, Tioté was involved in a challenge with Elano that saw him suffer an injury and sidelined for the rest of the tournament. On 13 January 2012, Tioté was sent off for a "crazy challenge" in a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations warm up match against Tunisia. However, he was in the starting line-up for the Ivory Coast's opening two group matches and both the semi-final and final, in which he scored the team's first kick in the penalty shootout defeat to Zambia. Following the end of the tournament, Tioté revealed that he gave away his medal to his friend because of the loss. At the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, Tioté scored his first international goal in the 50th minute of their 2–1 quarter-final loss to Nigeria. At the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Tioté featured in all three matches in the group stage. At the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Tioté started in the first two group matches. He injured his…

Tioté was a devout Muslim. He observed fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan. In May 2011, Tioté's car was seized by the police for motoring offences. On 13 February 2013, he was arrested on suspicion of fraud, and had his car seized by the police. After admitting to possessing a forged Belgian driving licence, he was given a suspended sentence, as well as a six-month ban from driving. In 2012, after Newcastle United announced their sponsorship deal with Wonga, Tioté, alongside his teammates Papiss Cissé, Hatem Ben Arfa and Demba Ba, initially refused to wear the new sponsor's name on their shirts. As Wonga was a payday loan firm, according to Sharia law, Muslims must not benefit from either lending money or receiving money from another person – meaning that charging interest is prohibited. The matter was settled the following season. He had two children with his first wife, Madah. During his time at Newcastle, the couple lived in the village of Ponteland in Northumberland, and were married some time before his move to Tyneside. On 29 September 2014, it was reported by the Evening Chronicle that Tioté had married a second wife, Laeticia Doukrou, in the capital of the Ivory Coast, Abidjan. The marriage had taken place before the start of the season. His agent Jean Musampa, confirmed the marriage to the local newspaper, saying "I can say that he did get married and that it is his second marriage." Shortly afterwards, it was reported that his mistress Nkosiphile Mpofu,…

Born in Yamoussoukro, Tioté started out playing barefoot street football at the age of 10, not owning a pair of boots until he was 15. He played youth football for Ivorian minor league side FC Bibo. In an interview with the Evening Chronicle, Tioté said he had nine brothers and sisters. Growing up in Abidjan, he gave up his studies at a young age. He stated that "football has always been the biggest thing to me ... I knew what I wanted to do and made sure that this was going to be my life. But I worked and worked and worked for it and it is because of that hard work that I have managed to make it."