Age cheating or age fraud has been a constant challenge in football, with many African footballers usually accused of not using their actual ages when playing football, that is, their “football age.”
However, it is not only an African problem as many European, South American, and Asian footballers have been caught in this scandal.
In late November, former Accra Hearts of Oak player Joe Tagoe, popularly known as Bobby Short, revealed he was in his mid-thirties when he signed for an Egyptian youth team in 2017.
In his words, he did so due to his economic situation, adding that many other players have encountered similar issues.
I was home and received a call from Francis Martey about an offer for an under-19 player. Looking at my height, I said okay. At that time, I was about 34 or 35 years old. Poverty can make you do such things, and the system isn’t fair to us.
I would have died if I hadn’t taken care of myself. I trained with both the senior team and U-20s, but the running with the U-20s always left me dizzy. Many players like me face similar situations.
And yes indeed, many other players have lied about their age. So, here are 10 footballers who lied about their age:
Meschack Elia Lina
Meschack Elia Lina, the Congolese international who plays for Swiss Super League club Young Boys, admitted to lying about his age. It was announced in July 2019 that Elia would join Anderlecht, a team in the Belgian First Division A. However, he vanished and allegedly fabricated his birth year, leading to a 12-month ban from the Congolese Association Football Federation.
Tobie Mimboe
Senegalese player Tobie Mimboe was caught for age cheating more than once. He reportedly held several documents during the course of his career that indicated he became younger as time went by.
Carlos Alberto
Carlos Alberto claimed to be at least five years younger than he was. He won the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship with Brazil using fake documents to claim that he was born on 24 January, 1983. Because of this, he was banned for 360 days from football.
Angel Cheme
Ecuadorian Angel Cheme lied about his true name and pretended to be three years younger than he was. He spent most of his professional career playing as Gonzalo Chila, the real name of a player three years younger than him whom he had met during a trial at a local club. This allowed him to play in age-restricted games for three years after he was legally allowed to, but he was ultimately suspended for two years.
Gurav Mukhi
Gourav Mukhi, an Indian, was 28 years old despite claiming to be 16.
Fortune Chukwudi
Fortune Chukwudi, the former captain of the Nigerian Under-17 team, was exposed when Adokiye Amiesimaka claimed that Chukwudi had reduced his age by seven years during the 2009 FIFA Under-17 World Cup.
Seuntjie Motlhajwa
South African Seuntjie Motlhajwa falsely claimed to be two years younger than he was.
Guirane N’Daw
Guirane N’Daw from Senegal admitted to lying about his age after he retired from football.
Sibusiso Mzizi
South Africa’s Sibusiso Mzizi lied about his age by five years using a forged passport.
Yusupha Yaffa
Despite claiming to be 19 years old, Yusupha Yaffa from Gambia was allegedly 28 years old.
Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Yaffa claimed to have misplaced his paperwork several times and that he was born on December 31, 1996, rather than November 14, 1987, when he appeared before the Italian immigration office in 2009.
He was signed by AC Milan in 2013 after impressing on trial and was handed a place in the club’s youth team, but was later sued by the club for forging his age.