Premier League player Cheick Tiote admits he has two wives AND a mistress

Wife Number 1: Newcastle United star Cheick Tiote, with first wife Madah, is said to have taken a second bride

A married Premier League footballer who already has three children by his wife and mistress has just taken a second bride in his native Cote'Ivoire.

Cheick Tiote, 28, who earns £45,000 a week playing for Newcastle United, reportedly wed Laeticia Doukrou in a traditional ceremony earlier this month, saying taking another wife was 'nothing unusual' given he is a Muslim.

But news of the second wedding came as a surprise to his first wife, Madah, 25, who is said to have only found out about it on Facebook.  Madah, who lives with Tiote and their two children in a £1.5million house in Ponteland, Newcastle, reportedly fainted with shock when she saw the photograpsh of her husband marrying another woman.

Meanwhile the midfielder also has a one-year-old child with mistress, 33-year-old Zimbabwean Nkosiphile Mpofu, known as Nikki.

Wife Number 2: Midfielder Tiote, 28, who is a Muslim, has married Doukrou Laeticia in his native Ivory Coast

His agent today confirmed reports he had got married for a second time.

Jean Musampa said: 'I can say that he did get married and that it is his second marriage.

'This is nothing unusual. He is a Muslim.' 

The footballer, who can have four wives under Islamic law, is also said to have insisted to friends that having several partners is commonplace in his native Ivory Coast.

A source told The Sun: 'He doesn't see a problem with having two wives.

'It's perfectly acceptable in his culture. He doesn't see he has done anything wrong and doesn't know what the fuss is all about.'

But his first wife, Madah, is said to have felt rather differently.

According to Ivorian news website iMatin, Madah wasn't aware of her husband taking a second wife, and found out about it through social media.

They reported that she fainted when she saw the photos of her husband marrying another woman - whose name she did not know - on Facebook. 

The first Mrs Tiote is now said to have forgiven her husband, but his 33-year-old Zimbabwean mistress, Ms Mpofu, is believed to have recently ended her three-year affair with the footballer after he allegedly promised to make her his wife.

While she was said to have been 'comfortable' with his being married, she apparently decided to call the relationship off because he 'used me like a mop'.

Ms Mpofu was pictured earlier this week leaving a Waitrose store in Ponteland, the village where Tiote lives with his family, with her son by the footballer, Rafael. 

Newcastle United was not available for comment.

Tiote received interest from Lokomotiv Moscow during the summer and was thought to be keen on a move to Russia.

He remained on Tyneside after Lokomotiv failed to make an acceptable offer, but his contract is set to expire in 2016.

In October 2013 Tiote was lucky to avoid prison after admitting to possessing a fake driving licence, for which he was given a seven-month suspended sentence and 180 hours of unpaid community work.

Judge James Goss said Tiote, 27, avoided jail only because he pleaded guilty and added: 'I have no doubt that, using your considerable talent, you will be able to assist others in the community by encouraging them and passing on your skills that way.' 

The Ivorian had to be called back to court after prosecutors forgot he should have been banned from driving after accumulating 12 points.