Image via Wikipedia
A most enterprising “agent”.
I cannot help but admire the cheek and the scope of the con. It is in the same league as “selling the Eiffel Tower“.
- Take a country which most people couldn’t find on a map (Togo)
- Take another country which is rich but not a front-line football nation (Bahrain).
- Short-circuit communication links by internet and e-mail between the football federations of Bahrain and Togo.
- Arrange a friendly international match to be played in the rich country.
- Show-up for the international match with a full team of officials and players (from where? on what passports?)
- Take full benefit of all on offer to the visiting team from the friendly (rich) host federation.
- Do a little gold trading and any other little money laundering needed on the side.
- Play the match – even though the players are huffing and panting after a few minutes.
- Leave the country before the sh** hits the fan
Bahrain won the friendly 3-0 but they were surprised by the poor quality of the Togolese team with head coach Josef Hickersberger describing the match in Riffa on Sept 7 as “boring” and “a wasted opportunity”. Togo sports minister Christophe Chao told Jeune Afrique: “Nobody has ever been informed of such a game. We will conduct investigations to uncover all those involved in this case.”
According to the Gulf Daily News, BFA vice-president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa confirmed Bahrain went through all the correct channels in organising the match. Shaikh Ali added all the paperwork received before the friendly were officially signed and stamped from the Togolese Football Federation.
The publication went on to report a letter listed a 20-member Togo team, including each player’s passport number and date of birth.
However, a completely different list of 18 players was provided by a team official a few minutes before the start of the match.
The Bahrain Football Association (BFA) said it had been arranged under all the usual official procedures and through an agent they had known for several years.
The real Togo team. image:morethanthegames.co.uk
The k2p blog 