If you are in Kenya, the biggest scam in football history is not goalkeeper Patrick Matasi being caught live on camera, match-fixing, and then coming out boldly to defend himself as reported.
Back in 1996, Southampton fell for one of the wildest scams in football history. Probably the biggest fraud in Premier League history to date.
Someone called them, pretending to be George Weah, and said his ‘cousin’ Ali Dia was a Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Senegal star.
“My cousin is currently in England, and you might be interested in him,” the man, who claimed to be Weah, told Graeme Souness, Southampton’s coach at the time and a former Liverpool player.
During those years, Weah, one of African football’s greats, had moved to PSG in 1992, where they won Division 1 in 1994, and he became the top scorer of the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League.
“He’s a very very talented striker man,” added the caller (who was later found to be a fake agent).
But believing they were speaking with the only African Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year winner in history, who had won both awards the previous year in 1995, the club didn’t ask too many questions. They signed him right away.
Ali Dia made his debut against Leeds but was substituted after 20 minutes. He was that bad, even after undergoing training with the club for over a month.
He vanished after that. It turns out the guy wasn’t Weah’s cousin, never played for Senegal, and had no professional experience. Just a phone and a dream.
Reports later said he was simply a student from Senegal, who had gone to Europe to study for a bachelor’s degree in business administration!
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