Fake agents are scamming young African players – it’s human trafficking

[1naija]

Didier Drogba: ‘Fake agents are scamming young African players – it’s human trafficking’
Story by Oliver Young-Myles • 13h ago
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/soccer ... rent&ei=17

Didier Drogba has compared the exploitation of young African footballers by “fake agents” to human trafficking and urged European football to help end a practice that is leaving people stranded and homeless.

The issue of shady figures claiming to be football agents to trick young players from African countries into handing over money on the promise of trials or contracts at European clubs has been a blight on the global game for several years but has gained little traction publicly.

Now, former Chelsea striker Drogba, who was an Ivory Coast international, and former team-mate Geremi, who played more than 100 times for Cameroon, are working with Fifpro, the global players’ union, to tackle the issue.

“[As] Young players you have a dream, you are inspired by the Premier League, by the Bundesliga or Serie A, you want to follow in the footsteps of those great African players who play in Europe,” Drogba said.

“Those young people unfortunately get scammed by would-be agents. Or real agents who scam them, telling them you’re going to have a great career, but at the end of the day, the dream ends up being a nightmare for these young people. You are being scammed, you are being fooled. It’s a swindle.”

He added: “It’s like smugglers, human traffickers, it’s the same principle. You push people to take a makeshift boat across the Mediterranean Sea and these poor people end up risking and losing their lives. There is such hope generated by this departure, but they don’t know what might be hidden behind this false promise.”

Geremi was one of the continent’s success stories, leaving for Europe and winning La Liga and the Champions League twice in Spain at Real Madrid before moving to Chelsea and twice lifting the Premier League trophy in England. But he also experienced the darker side of being a young footballer in Africa.

“It’s true that I met a dishonest person,” Geremi, now Fifpro’s Africa President, said. “He was offering me the moon and it sounded very appealing to be offered a contract in Europe.

“I’d always dreamt of having a career in Europe. But it turned out to be a very difficult experience for me because this person had not organised my departure very well. Nobody expected us when I arrived in Europe.”

Geremi believes the problem is exacerbated by the players wanting “to break away from poverty” and not only earn money for themselves but “to help out our family back in Africa”. The families of players can hand over between £4,300 and £8,600 in order to secure fake meetings at clubs.

“Fifpro has heard many stories about players being approached by people pretending to be agents that promise to arrange a trial or a contract with a new club,” a Fifpro statement said. “Often that club is said to be located abroad, and they paint a picture of a successful future with the player becoming rich and famous.

“The reality is less glamorous. There is no trial, there is no contract with a club, and these players end up losing a substantial amount of money to these ‘fake agents’. In some of the worst cases players find themselves stranded abroad, without money to return home.”

The “fake agents” campaign, also run in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation, launches today and initially aims to educate young people and their families in Africa about the dangers. In the long-term, Drogba hopes that the leagues and facilities in Africa are developed enough to offer realistic opportunities to be a professional footballer at home.

“My view is Europe bears part of the responsibility,” Drogba said. “I’m not here to name and shame I’m here to work on solutions. Part of the responsibility lies with Africa as well.”

He pointed to the work of the NBA, which has funded a basketball league in Africa from which American teams now recruit players. “This is a good practice we could get inspiration from.”

He added: “Geremi and myself are exceptions. Many hopefuls from Africa will never play for Real Madrid or Manchester United. What is to become of them? They have a right of making a living out of playing football in Africa.”

[1naija]

I am surprised no one has any comments on this given how many young Nigerian players have been victims of fake agents. Kudos to Drogba for shining the light on this.

[Eaglezbeak]

This has been going on for a while.

[danfo driver]

I am surprised no one has any comments on this given how many young Nigerian players have been victims of fake agents. Kudos to Drogba for shining the light on this.

You people are wicked sha! Making this Uncle cry that no one wants to respond to his thread more than 24 hours after he posted it. Please guys, lets support him.

[Bigpokey24]

I am surprised no one has any comments on this given how many young Nigerian players have been victims of fake agents. Kudos to Drogba for shining the light on this.

You people are wicked sha! Making this Uncle cry that no one wants to respond to his thread more than 24 hours after he posted it. Please guys, lets support him.

mods we need toban danfo, the beatings uncle 1naija has received no be small..chei..I have serious empathy for him now

[1naija]

You are fooling yourself.

I am surprised no one has any comments on this given how many young Nigerian players have been victims of fake agents. Kudos to Drogba for shining the light on this.

You people are wicked sha! Making this Uncle cry that no one wants to respond to his thread more than 24 hours after he posted it. Please guys, lets support him.

mods we need toban danfo, the beatings uncle 1naija has received no be small..chei..I have serious empathy for him now

[Bigpokey24]

You are fooling yourself.

I am surprised no one has any comments on this given how many young Nigerian players have been victims of fake agents. Kudos to Drogba for shining the light on this.

You people are wicked sha! Making this Uncle cry that no one wants to respond to his thread more than 24 hours after he posted it. Please guys, lets support him.

mods we need toban danfo, the beatings uncle 1naija has received no be small..chei..I have serious empathy for him now

I do not understand your response. face danfo and be a man.

[Lolly]

This has been going on for years. An ex-driver of mine was defrauded by one of such agents who promised to help him reduce his age on his passport but ran off with almost $1,000 in total, money the poor buy raised by borrowing from his sister and some relatives. The agent has disappeared from the face of the earth after scamming a lot of aspiring footballers.

[Bigpokey24]

This has been going on for years. An ex-driver of mine was defrauded by one of such agents who promised to help him reduce his age on his passport but ran off with almost $1,000 in total, money the poor buy raised by borrowing from his sister and some relatives. The agent has disappeared from the face of the earth after scamming a lot of aspiring footballers.

so your ex driver who wanted to defraud others by changing his age is innocent? smh

[Lolly]

This has been going on for years. An ex-driver of mine was defrauded by one of such agents who promised to help him reduce his age on his passport but ran off with almost $1,000 in total, money the poor buy raised by borrowing from his sister and some relatives. The agent has disappeared from the face of the earth after scamming a lot of aspiring footballers.

so your ex driver who wanted to defraud others by changing his age is innocent? smh

According to him, 99% of Nigerian footballers falsify their ages. There is actually a known business where people could have their date of birth on their passport “amended” in Abuja.

[Bigpokey24]

This has been going on for years. An ex-driver of mine was defrauded by one of such agents who promised to help him reduce his age on his passport but ran off with almost $1,000 in total, money the poor buy raised by borrowing from his sister and some relatives. The agent has disappeared from the face of the earth after scamming a lot of aspiring footballers.

so your ex driver who wanted to defraud others by changing his age is innocent? smh

According to him, 99% of Nigerian footballers falsify their ages. There is actually a known business where people could have their date of birth on their passport “amended” in Abuja.

isn't that fraud? so a fraudster, is upset he was "got" by another fraudster?

[danfo driver]

This has been going on for years. An ex-driver of mine was defrauded by one of such agents who promised to help him reduce his age on his passport but ran off with almost $1,000 in total, money the poor buy raised by borrowing from his sister and some relatives. The agent has disappeared from the face of the earth after scamming a lot of aspiring footballers.

so your ex driver who wanted to defraud others by changing his age is innocent? smh

According to him, 99% of Nigerian footballers falsify their ages. There is actually a known business where people could have their date of birth on their passport “amended” in Abuja.

isn't that fraud? so a fraudster, is upset he was "got" by another fraudster?

A fraudster hired to drive the supporter of a genocidal murderer. Anyone who knows LollyPop, knows that this is a man who surrounds himself with criminals. Liars, thieves and killers. What do they say about birds of the same feathers?

[Kako]

This has been going on for years. An ex-driver of mine was defrauded by one of such agents who promised to help him reduce his age on his passport but ran off with almost $1,000 in total, money the poor buy raised by borrowing from his sister and some relatives. The agent has disappeared from the face of the earth after scamming a lot of aspiring footballers.

so your ex driver who wanted to defraud others by changing his age is innocent? smh

According to him, 99% of Nigerian footballers falsify their ages. There is actually a known business where people could have their date of birth on their passport “amended” in Abuja.

isn't that fraud? so a fraudster, is upset he was "got" by another fraudster?

ODOO….Overtake Don Overtake Overtake

[Lolly]

This has been going on for years. An ex-driver of mine was defrauded by one of such agents who promised to help him reduce his age on his passport but ran off with almost $1,000 in total, money the poor buy raised by borrowing from his sister and some relatives. The agent has disappeared from the face of the earth after scamming a lot of aspiring footballers.

so your ex driver who wanted to defraud others by changing his age is innocent? smh

According to him, 99% of Nigerian footballers falsify their ages. There is actually a known business where people could have their date of birth on their passport “amended” in Abuja.

isn't that fraud? so a fraudster, is upset he was "got" by another fraudster?

He is not stealing anyones money, though he is committing a crime too. Satisfied?

[danfo driver]

This has been going on for years. An ex-driver of mine was defrauded by one of such agents who promised to help him reduce his age on his passport but ran off with almost $1,000 in total, money the poor buy raised by borrowing from his sister and some relatives. The agent has disappeared from the face of the earth after scamming a lot of aspiring footballers.

so your ex driver who wanted to defraud others by changing his age is innocent? smh

According to him, 99% of Nigerian footballers falsify their ages. There is actually a known business where people could have their date of birth on their passport “amended” in Abuja.

isn't that fraud? so a fraudster, is upset he was "got" by another fraudster?

He is not stealing anyones money, though he is committing a crime too. Satisfied?

small small e don dey accept

He is not stealing anyone's money. This is the problem with you guys, your thinking is so narrow and you cant think outside the box. You are just like Akamoke in the Musa thread.

Your thieving driver may not be directly stealing money from someone, but he is falsifying his age, in order to get a slot in a team. A slot that should have gone to someone else who is deserving -- and the benefits from that slot (money) should have gone to someone else who has worked hard and who did not lie about his age.

Same way your mass murderer didnt pull the trigger, but gave the orders for the children to be slaughtered at the Lekki toll gate, gave the order for the students at Ife to be murdered in the 1980s. Of course, he committed genocide directly in the late 60s when he murdered Igbos and then bragged about it.

Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.

https://guardian.ng/news/nigerians-slam ... nt-tweets/

It was so callous and shameful that Twitter deleted the tweet of a sitting president.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57336571

[Lolly]

This has been going on for years. An ex-driver of mine was defrauded by one of such agents who promised to help him reduce his age on his passport but ran off with almost $1,000 in total, money the poor buy raised by borrowing from his sister and some relatives. The agent has disappeared from the face of the earth after scamming a lot of aspiring footballers.

so your ex driver who wanted to defraud others by changing his age is innocent? smh

According to him, 99% of Nigerian footballers falsify their ages. There is actually a known business where people could have their date of birth on their passport “amended” in Abuja.

isn't that fraud? so a fraudster, is upset he was "got" by another fraudster?

He is not stealing anyones money, though he is committing a crime too. Satisfied?

small small e don dey accept

He is not stealing anyone's money. This is the problem with you guys, your thinking is so narrow and you cant think outside the box. You are just like Akamoke in the Musa thread.

Your thieving driver may not be directly stealing money from someone, but he is falsifying his age, in order to get a slot in a team. A slot that should have gone to someone else who is deserving -- and the benefits from that slot (money) should have gone to someone else who has worked hard and who did not lie about his age.

Same way your mass murderer didnt pull the trigger, but gave the orders for the children to be slaughtered at the Lekki toll gate, gave the order for the students at Ife to be murdered in the 1980s. Of course, he committed genocide directly in the late 60s when he murdered Igbos and then bragged about it.

Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.

https://guardian.ng/news/nigerians-slam ... nt-tweets/

It was so callous and shameful that Twitter deleted the tweet of a sitting president.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57336571

You act and write like someone still in their diapers. Ndo.

Your post is full of falsehood yet you are judging others for falsifying their ages. You are a nutcase.

[danfo driver]

You act and write like someone still in their diapers. Ndo.

Your post is full of falsehood yet you are judging others for falsifying their ages. You are a nutcase.

Your driver committed fraud - true or false?
Buhari was in the Nigerian army that committed genocide in the civil war - true or false?
Buhari gave the order to murder the students at Ife - true or false?
Buhari gave the order to murder the children at the Lekki toll gate - true or false?
Buhari went on twitter and made that post i posted - true or false?
Buhari's twitter post was deleted by twitter - true or false?

You surround yourself with fraudsters, thieves and murderers - true or false?

It will never be well with you - true or false?

[ANC]

Danfo , you mental