French footballer Zahir Belounis trapped in Qatar 'contemplating suicide'

French footballer Zahir Belounis is reportedly contemplating taking his own life as he continues to be refused permission to leave Qatar.

The 33-year-old has been trapped in the country for two years after he took legal action against football club El Jaish, who are alleged to have not paid his wages for 24 months.

The kafala system of visa sponsorship will not allow him to leave until he drops the case against El Jaish, according to 101greatgoals.com.

CNN's James Masters has revealed that Belounis is considering suicide.

The footballer wrote in an email: "How can I deal with this? I don't want to be here anymore. I want to kill myself."

French President Francois Hollande is said to have tried numerous times to extract Belounis from Qatar.