Youth soccer came easily to Yusupha Yaffa because he might have been a young man among young boys.
AC Milan has taken Yaffa to court on allegations he lied about his age by nine years, The Telegraph’s Sean Gibson reported Monday, citing Italian newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport. Authorities have charged Yaffa with fraud, but his lawyer is trying to move his case to a juvenile court.
In 2009, Yaffa in arrived in Italy from Gambia as an asylum seeker. Yaffa claimed to have lost his documents during the move but convinced Italian immigration officials he was 13.
By Yaffa’s math he’d now be 19, but AC Milan suspects he’s far older. The Italian club can thank former classmates of Yaffa whose disputes over information in his profile outed the player.
Yaffa joined AC Milan in 2013 and went straight into the club’s youth academy. He played several games for AC Milan’s under-19 team that season but failed to progress into the first team.
Yaffa left AC Milan and now plays in Germany for Eintracht Frankfurt.
But if he lied his way into a European soccer career, jail time could top his growing list of worries.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@BreatheSport
