Is he lying about his age? According to his birth certificate, Youssoufa Moukoko is of legal age

For a number of weeks, the media has been reporting on Barcelona’s interest in a player named Youssouf Moukoko. Moreover, his contract with Borussia Dortmund expires at the end of June this year. The problem arises with the age of the player, which is supposed to be higher than what is stated in his official data. Newcastle and Chelsea could withdraw from the race for this player if this information proves to be true.

This topic stirred controversy a few years ago. In a period of football’s absurd dominance at youth level. Things calmed down for a while and the striker managed to make his debut in the first team of Borussia Dortmund, for whom he has already played 59 games and scored 11 goals.

In addition, he played two games for the German national team. Now, however, doubts are again being raised. Austrian online television Laola1 reports that Moukoko’s adoptive father (the player was adopted in 2014) has sent a journalist an allegedly discovered birth certificate in the name of Yousouff Mohamadou from 2000, which is supposed to belong to a player of the Dortmund club.

If this information is confirmed, Moukoko would now be 22 years old, not 18. For clubs interested in investing in young talent, this could be a serious setback as the gap is considerable.

There are already reports in England of Newcastle and Chelsea possibly pulling out of negotiations. Perhaps another suitor Barcelona would do the same, but there is no need to pass judgement at this stage, especially as the reports have not been confirmed by more credible media outlets.

The German federation has so far refused to comment on the matter. So we can only quote its statement from 2017: ‘The DFB has already held a series of intensive negotiations with Borussia Dortmund at various levels. In response to the DFB’s request for a careful consideration of the facts, Borussia’s representatives have continuously pointed out the authenticity of the documents, which are also known to the DFB. There is therefore no doubt about the exact age of the athlete. In this case, the DFB relies on the data from the player’s club of origin.”

Borussia Dortmund U23 coach Timo Preus shed some light on the matter later that year. Maybe he is actually a year or two older. But he is definitely not 17 [now 22 – ed.]. It’s very difficult for him, you can’t blame him, the boy doesn’t cheat.”

It is also worth outlining the wider context of the case. Moukoko was born in Cameroon, where there are serious problems with verifying the actual date of birth of footballers, as in many other places in Africa, and the matter is not just about football. There are many cases of players lowering their real age.

This is best illustrated by the situation at the last training camp of the Cameroon Under-17 national team in preparation for the Africa Cup of Nations. As many as 21 of the 30 members of the team failed the age test ordered by the president of the Cameroonian federation, Samuel Eto’o. The manager has added to the squad, but 11 of the new players also turned out to be older.

Moreover, Moukoko refused to undergo a biological age test three years ago when RB Lispko was interested in him, wanting to clear doubts. It was to consist of an MRI scan of the wrist, which can be used to assess the development of an athlete’s bones to determine his age.

Source: The Mirror