Children frequently kιck up dust and celebrate under the shade of trees as the journey begins on a barren area of land. Thousands of African children chase balls and fantasies of fаme and wealth on school grounds or improvised pitches at times.
Dreams that they have bought and sold to their families. Me𝚗 posing as agents with contacts abroad promised trials to major clubs, including Real Madrid, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, and Manchester United.
Old Trafford is rarely where the journey stops. There aren’t any trials. Stardom is not a possibility. Children are abandoned by families who have spent everything they had to place their hopes in the hands of scammers. An estimated 15,000 young football players are exported each year from West African nations.
Although Amad Diallo is well-liked at Manchester United, his path to the team wasn’t easy.
Amad Diallo is among the select handful who have succeeded. The 18-year-old, who was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, is Manchester United’s newest recruit after joining from Serie A team Atalanta for a possible £37 million.
Everyone who has seen him has been impressed. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer immediately moved him to the bench for the FA Cup after he scored three goals in two games for United’s Under 23 team. His journey is truly amazing. However, there is a price for even that.
Following an inquiry into claims he used fictitious documents and fraudulent parents to gain admission into the nation and sign for two clubs—Boca Barco in 2015 and Atalanta three years later—Diallo was fined £42,000 by the Italian FA last week.Such a penalty seems to assign culpability to Diallo on its own. But if you look underneath the surface, Diallo’s move to Old Trafford may have brought him luck and bright lights, but his time there has left him little more than a piece in a larger, darker, and more complex area of sport.
Six years ago, five adults are alleged to have entered Italy on a family visa, smuggling Diallo, his brother Hamed, and three other young African football players. They are accused of aiding and abetting illegаl immigration as well as forgery. Through the ‘family reunification’ procedure of that nation, the boys were able to enter as two of them claimed to be the brothers’ parents.
Diallo joined a a tiny amateur club called Boca Barco before later signing for Atalanta
In 2018, Diallo transferred to Atalanta, where he eventually made the first team.Diallo’s father figure was Hamed Mamadou Traore, the Ivory Coast’s Abidjan team’s founder, while his mother figure was played by his wife Marina Edwige Teher.
Diallo’s ‘cousins’ were allegedly raised by her sister Larissa Ghislaine Teher and her husband Zadi Gildas Abou. One is a player for Lecce, while the other is a Serie D club representative. Lastly, the fifth fictitious son was born to Bly Blaise Tehe and her Italian citizen husband.
DNA testing demonstrated that Diallo and his brother were unrelated to the purported parents, who might spend up to 15 years behind bars, according to investigators, who spoke with The Mail on Sunday.
There have been claims that he goes by another nаme, Amad Diallo Traore. On turning eighteen, he abandoned the surname of his “fake” father, Traore. The only thing on his United shirt will be Amad. He could not even be related to Hamed.
One of the detectives told The Mail on Sunday, “We tested Amad’s DNA and that of most of the other football players, and they were not related to the supposed parents, but Amad has admitted they are not his parents.”
“We won’t be pushing for that much, but the crime is punishable by up to 15 years in prison because of the false documents and fraud.” When the inquiry is almost over, the judge will determine whether or not to order a trial. Since they were kids, Amad and his brother are not charged with any crimes.
Last week Diallo was fined £42,000 by the Italian FA after an investigation into allegations he had used false documents and fake parents to secure entry into the country
Six years ago, five adults are said to have entered Italy on a family visa with Diallo, his brother Hamed, and three other young African football players.
That the Italian FA (FIGC) decided to penalize him following his and his brother’s plea agreement to avoid a ban is therefore a little surprising.
When he joined Boca Barco, he was twelve, and when he got to Italy, he was even younger. It would never have come to his attention. When pressed for an explanation of their choice, FIGC remained silent.
Only after agent and talent scout Giovanni Damiano Drago provided information to the authorities after his own detention in 2017 for smuggling five additional players into the nation as part of ‘Operation Baby Elephant’ did the probe get underway.
Two of the athletes later joined the Abidjan club owned by Diallo’s pro-father.
After agreeing to a plea deal, Drago received a one year and ten month suspended sentence. It’s also thought that Drago is connected to the mafia. As part of a police investigation into the ‘Ndrangheta syndicate, he was taken into custody and questioned about his orders to аttаck someone who owed him money. The ‘Ndrangheta was involved in a well-known Parma crime that involved the kidnapping and murԀer of an infant.
Diallo was only a little part of it all. Although he is currently looking forward to the bright lights of Old Trafford, he initially joined a small amateur club called Boca Barco.
“Amad just came to us; we didn’t find him,” Denis Cerlini, the club’s young coach, told the BBC.
Giovanni Damiano Drago, a talent scout, provided authorities with information after being arrested in 2017 for smuggling five other players into Italy.
By coincidence, Diallo won over everyone. “It was clear the child was unique from the beginning,” Cerlini recalled. Later, when a friend persuaded former Italy goalie Giovanni Galli to have a look at the brothers, Galli saw the player in action. He was pleased with what he observed, and Diallo soon left for Atlanta.
Marina, who took on the role of Diallo’s mother, works for Atalanta. The Serie A team claims they have no knowledge of any misconduct.
Before Manchester United signed Diallo on deadline day, he had only made four appearances in Serie A.
United were confident that the probe would not impact his eligibility to play for the first team while declining to comment on the situation. It is understood that they were aware of the investigation.
It is also understood that they find it unusual that at the age of 10 or 12, he was fined for something over which he had no control. If the announcement of Diallo’s fine has any positive effect, it should draw attention to one of the largest scandals in sports.
Diallo was raised by Hamed Mamadou Traore, the Ivory Coast’s founder of the Abidjan squad, as a surrogate father.
Diallo is a fortunate person. Despite being brought into the nation illegаlly, his path went far more smoothly than many others who had a similar beginning.
The investigators told The Mail on Sunday that “they (Amad and his brother) were aware of it and had a reasonable life with their fake parents, so it wasn’t exactly human trafficking.”
They were undoubtedly impacted by being apart from their real families, but they did not face any other disadvantages. The players received pay, but it’s unknown how much was retained by the family or whether any was sent back to the players’ actual Ivory Coast relatives.
The exception is this. Approximately 15,000 young Africans are thought to be trafficked to Europe annually, according to Foot Solitaire, a nonprofit founded to combat football trafficking.
Me𝚗 who pose as accomplished former football players and claim to be well-connected football agents demand fees of up to £6,500 from families who feel that their child’s football career is the only path out of poverty.
An estimated 15,000 juvenile football players are sent abroad each year from West African nations.
There is no trial when the children get to Europe. There isn’t any lodging available. The operative deserts the juvenile and advances to the subsequent susceptible individual.
Some people get so desperate that they take to the water in improvised boats, according to sources from the International Organization for Migration and the Ivory Coast. Many never arrive at their intended location.
“The trafficking of football is a highly skilled enterprise,” stated Ed Hawkins, the writer of The Lost Boys: Inside Football’s Slаve Trade. Everyone is aware of their responsibilities: the criminal underworld supplying paperwork for minor players, the agents trying to evade transfer regulations, the administrators who turn a blind eye, and the clubs hoping to sign the next great star.
“The money obsession in football has cajoled them all.” A player’s passport, real or phony, is stamped by their propensity for greed.
The promise of club trials has drawn thousands of teenagers to Europe. Sadly, there is no trial when they get to Europe, and the “football agent” they trusted with their fate turns out to be a human trafficker. They become prostitutes, slаve laborers, or members of Ԁrug cartels.
They don’t wind up at Manchester United, for sure. Diallo is on the way. There are thousands who remain behind.