Claudia Nainggolan (née Lai): Radja Nainggolan's Wife

Claudia Nainggolan, née Lai, is the wife of Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan, but the couple are separated, according to Italian media. Nainggolan himself referred to "the divorce" in a television interview in April 2025, and the newspaper Unione Sarda calls her his ex-wife. We did not find a report confirming that the divorce is legally final, so "wife" below means the woman he married, as reported. She is a DJ who has posted from Sardinia and became widely known in Italy in 2019 and 2020, when she spoke publicly about her breast cancer treatment.

In 2026 Radja Nainggolan plays for Patro Eisden in Belgium's second division, the Challenger Pro League. This article is about her: who she is, what she has said herself, the couple's public milestones and what we could not confirm.

Quick facts

Name: Claudia Nainggolan, née Lai (known on Instagram as claudia_lai_82)
Known as: DJ, and the wife of footballer Radja Nainggolan
Marriage: 3 May 2011, a civil ceremony at the town hall of Serramanna, Sardinia (local news site aSerramanna)
Status: separated, according to Italian media; no report we found confirms a final divorce
Daughters: two, born in 2012 and 2016; the elder is Aysha
Birth date and age: not published by any reliable outlet we found, so we do not give one
Instagram: @claudia_lai_82

Who is Claudia Nainggolan?

Claudia Lai is known as Claudia Nainggolan from her marriage to the Belgian footballer, who played for Cagliari, Roma and Inter in Italy. Her own Instagram posts are written in Italian, with the occasional Sardinian saying, and she has posted from Sardinia. In an interview with Calciomercato.com published on 15 June 2021, she said she had started working as a DJ and that music had been decisive for her recovery, a "salvation" in her words. She said she was beginning to play gigs in Cagliari.

We could not find a reliable account of her family, her earlier jobs or how she and Radja first met, and several biography sites that list her parents, siblings or a birth date do not cite any source. We have left those details out rather than repeat them.

Claudia and Radja Nainggolan: marriage and separation

The couple married on 3 May 2011, while Radja was a Cagliari player, in a civil ceremony at the town hall of Serramanna, in southern Sardinia, conducted by the town's mayor, according to the local news site aSerramanna. Unione Sarda also says they married in Sardinia. Their two daughters were born in 2012 and 2016.

Reports on the separation are limited. In April 2025, on the television programme Bar Goens, Nainggolan spoke about "the divorce" and its financial consequences, as Unione Sarda reported, and the paper calls Claudia Lai his ex-wife. We found no report giving a divorce date or confirming the legal status, so we do not state one.

Neither Claudia nor Radja has, as far as we could find, given a detailed public account of why the marriage ended. We do not repeat unverified claims about either of them.

Claudia Nainggolan's breast cancer: what she has said

On 10 July 2019, Claudia Lai announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was starting chemotherapy. Radja Nainggolan was then an Inter player; he returned to Cagliari on loan for the 2019-20 season, and Italian media linked the move to his wife's illness.

In an interview published by Unione Sarda on 2 January 2020, Lai said that her strength came from her family: her daughters, her parents and other women who had been through the same illness. She told readers she was focused on getting better. On 29 September 2020 she posted on Instagram about a check-up a little over a month after finishing her treatment, and in the Calciomercato.com interview of June 2021 she said she had beaten the cancer, while noting that she still faced years of follow-up therapy at home. She also said she had taken up boxing.

We do not go into medical detail, which is hers to share.

Her children

Claudia and Radja have two daughters, born in 2012 and 2016. Claudia named the elder, Aysha, in her January 2020 interview with Unione Sarda. We name her only for that reason, give birth years only and show no photos of either girl.

Who is Radja Nainggolan?

Radja Nainggolan was born on 4 May 1988 in Antwerp, Belgium. He is a box-to-box midfielder who has played for clubs in Italy, Belgium and Indonesia. Dated career timeline, from English Wikipedia and Sporza:

2006-2010: Piacenza (Serie B)
January 2010: joins Cagliari on loan, then permanently in 2011; stays until 2014
7 January 2014: loaned to Roma, signed permanently in 2015 for about 9 million euros; plays there until 2018
26 June 2018: moves to Inter for 38 million euros
2019-2021: two loan spells back at Cagliari; Inter terminate his contract by mutual consent on 10 August 2021
2021-2022: Royal Antwerp; he leaves in December 2022 by mutual consent after being suspended in October
2023: SPAL in Serie B (from 30 January), then Bhayangkara in Indonesia from late November
2025: Lokeren-Temse from 21 January
January 2026: Patro Eisden. Sporza reported on 16 January 2026 that he had signed a deal of one and a half years, according to coach Stijn Stijnen

For Belgium he won 30 caps and scored 6 goals between 2009 and 2018, and played at Euro 2016, where he scored against Sweden and Wales. He retired from international football on 21 May 2018 after being left out of the World Cup squad.

Nainggolan has also had legal matters, including an investigation in Belgium in 2025. They concern him, not Claudia, and we do not cover them here.

Other Belgium internationals have stories of their own too: read about Youri Tielemans' wife Mendy and Sarah Mens, Romelu Lukaku's ex-girlfriend.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Claudia Nainggolan?

Claudia Nainggolan, née Lai, is a Sardinian DJ and the wife, reported as now separated, of footballer Radja Nainggolan.

Are Radja and Claudia Nainggolan still together?

According to Italian media, no. Nainggolan spoke about "the divorce" in April 2025 and Unione Sarda calls Claudia his ex-wife. We found no report confirming a final divorce.