Scandal in European football: The fake identity of Youssoufa Moukoko

After standing out in the lower ranks of German football, Youssoufa Moukoko burst onto the scene in 2020 as the youngest debutant in the history of the Champions League, a remarkable milestone that is now under question.

Known by many as the 'African Messi' - owned by Borussia Dortmund, although currently on loan at Nice - Moukoko's career has been embroiled in a huge controversy that has shocked Germany after recent information revealed his true age and his true father.

The German newspaper Bild has controversially labeled the German footballer (born in Cameroon) as the "big German lie", following claims from his alleged father that the striker is 24 years old, not 20.

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"Youssoufa Moukoko is not the biological son of me and my wife Marie Moukoko. Nor was he born on November 20, 2004 in Yaounde, Cameroon," Joseph Moukoko declared.

Joseph Moukoko further confessed on 'ProSieben' that he falsified documents of the young footballer in Cameroon for visa purposes.

He further added what he claims to be Youssoufa Moukoko's true date of birth, stating: "In reality, he was born on July 19, 2000. Now he is listed as being born on November 20, 2004," he revealed on 'ProSieben'.

"I got him a fake birth certificate in Yaoundé. After that, I went to the embassy, got him a passport and then took him to Germany as my son. (…) We made him four years younger," added the man who until now was considered to be his biological father.

'Bild' has already published a series of investigations carried out in Cameroon through which they were unable to find any evidence that the young German footballer had been born in 2004 in the African country, but there was more information that would corroborate Joseph Moukoko's confession.

The German tabloid discovered that the birth of a child named Youssoufa Mohamadou was registered there in 2000, the son of Ousman Mohamadou, a local taxi driver, information that was confirmed by several witnesses who reportedly pointed out that his real father lived in a nearby villa.

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There have been other similar cases like Moukoko's. A good example of this is Silas Katompa Mvumpa, a Congolese footballer whose passport was falsified by his agent in 2019 with a false identity, so that he would be considered a minor, in order to control him and blackmail him. These facts were denounced by his club at the time, VfB Stuttgart, who gave him their full support.

Outside Germany, another well-remembered case in similar circumstances is that of the British athlete of Somali origin and Olympic champion Mo Farah who, after finishing his career in 2022, confessed in an interview for the BBC that he always competed under a false identity as a result of his tragic childhood, when he arrived in the United Kingdom through a human trafficking network.

In the case of Youssoufa Moukoko, the revelation that he could be four years older than previously thought could have its consequences. He would lose all the records for precocity that he currently holds.

He was the youngest player to make his debut and score in the UEFA Youth League; the youngest to make his debut in the Champions League, at 16 years and 18 days; the youngest to make his debut in the Bundesliga, at 16 years and one day, surpassing Nuri Sahin; and the youngest to score a goal in the German championship, a feat he achieved at 16 years and 28 days, breaking the record held by Florian Wirtz.

Not only is his vast list of individual achievements in question, but also collective achievements that could have a serious impact on his club, Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund, for its part, did not want to ignore this situation and issued an official statement in which it clings to the presumption of innocence of the player and stresses that all the papers to which they have had access and with which they have worked would be legal for all purposes, shifting the alleged guilt of the events away from Joseph Moukoko.

"Youssoufa Moukoko’s biological parents are determined on the basis of official identity documents and birth certificates issued by a German authority. These documents remain valid to this day and form the basis for playing authorisations and club licences, both domestically and internationally, as well as of course for national teams such as the German U-21," the letter explained.

The controversy surrounding Youssoufa Moukoko has only just begun, with many chapters yet to unfold that may shed light on this shadowy episode of his otherwise promising career. In the meantime, he continues to let off steam in France with Nice, determined to grow as a footballer...

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