FIFA sports lawyer, Pius Ndubuokwu has explained the reasons as to why youngsters become victims to fraudulent activities in the footballing world. The legal man was speaking on the context of Africans being scammed with fake club offers to play football abroad.
He highlighted that there is a knowledge gap between these people and the current state of things, and this makes them susceptible to such.
“So I will say this, the revolutions are airtight. It can’t exploit the revolution for illegal purposes. However, I think the biggest issue we have in Africa is lack of knowledge. Like there’s a gap in the knowledge. There’s a gap in the knowledge between the parents, the players, and these fake agents”, he explained
He went on to sight instances where players have reached out to him to verify an offer, and how he went on to discover that it’s usually hokum.
“Couple of times I’ve gotten like messages on my WhatsApp from players say, I got this invite from Georgia. Can you help me verify if it is true or not? It’s very easy. All I have to do is look at the letter where it’s coming from, look at who signed it, look at his name. Call a club that has a TMS account and tell the club, can you help me confirm this, whether these persons are there right, persons on the TMS, and 100% of the times, those invitations have been fake”, added Ndubuokwu
He also added that the economic situation around here is another reason why people fall victims, as they want to go abroad to get a better life.
“So I will call it, the economic issue in Africa is one of issues. But I think truth and lack of due process and a gap in knowledge, these are the two major factors”, he concluded.
