Former Chelsea and Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has announced that he and his wife have separated after 26 years of marriage.
The 43-year-old took to Instagram on Thursday to reveal the news to fans with an emotional statement.
Cech and Martina had been together since they were teenagers and she was by his side throughout his legendary footballing career.
The pair have two children named named Damian (16) and Adela Cechova (17).
Cech made the announcement alongside a black and white picture of himself and Martina in which she is kissing him on the cheek.
He wrote: ‘Martina and myself are sad to announce that we are separating after 26 years together.
Former goalkeeper Petr Cech shared this announcement on his Instagram story on Thursday
Petr and Martina met in high school in 1999 and went on to marry each other four years later
Cech insisted that the pair remain the best of friends and are immensely proud of their children
‘We remain best friends and immensely proud of our two children.’
The Czechs first met in high school in 1999 and went on to marry in the summer of 2003.
Both of their children are attempting to follow in the footsteps of their famous father.
Daughter Adela is a defender and plays for both Fulham and Czechia U17s.
And their son Damian, a goalkeeper just like his dad, signed his first professional contract with the Cottagers earlier this year.
Damian previously played for Chelsea before making the swap from blue to white.
Petr previously told indnes.cz: ‘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.’
Damian had joined Fulham’s Under-15 set-up, and made his debut for his country’s Under-18s in August last year at just 15.
Daughter Adela Cechova plays for Fulham and recently made her international debut
Damian Cech also plays for Fulham and signed his first professional contract earlier this year
Adela made her debut for Czechia’s youth side in February against Mexico in the MIMA Cup.
Cechova is described by her coach, Daniel Smejkal, as ‘a promising defender’ who the set-up wanted to ‘get to know better’ during the camp in Spain.
She came on during the second half of her side’s game against Mexico, though Czechia were on the wrong side of a 3-0 scoreline.
Having missed her birth in 2008, Cech told the People magazine: ‘It was the best day of my life and at the same time the saddest. 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.’
Cech was absent from the birth because he was with the Chelsea squad ahead of a League Cup semi-final against Everton.
The Premier League icon spent more than a decade with the Blues, joining in 2004 from French side Rennes and going onto make just short of 500 appearances before moving across London.
After leaving Chelsea, he signed for Arsenal and went onto play 139 times in goal for the Gunners, donning his famous helmet that he had to wear due to an injury sustained earlier in his career.
