Some Latin American players have been forced to change their age to participate in official tournaments.

Leer en español: Suplantaciones y adulteraciones de edad: lamentables casos de futbolistas latinoamericanos

In Latin American sport there have been different cases of spoofing, which have brought negative consequences in the careers of these impostors. Many athletes intend to act in various competitions, and resort to this type of events without thinking about the damage they can cause.

These situations have been presented in various disciplines such as football, and in frauds different people have been involved. There are facts registered in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico, where sanctions have been filed for the use of false documentation.Apart from the alteration of age, identity changes also occur, where names, dates and places of birth change. Latinamerican Post discloses recent events that tarnish Latin American football and generate many repercussions.

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The False Captain

The legendary player and captain of the Ecuadorian Soccer Team, Walter Ayoví, was sanctioned six months after using false documents. According to the newspaper El Comercio, Ayoví was 19 years old when he played the South American U-17 that took place in 1999 and the Pre-Olympic of Brazil. In addition, played with the name of Walter Corozo Almán and disputed that competition where he had two more years than allowed.

According to the Popular of Peru, there are at least 17 situations similar to Walter's, where it was believed that they had an age but the reality was different. On the other hand, one of the events that took place in Ecuador was that of Moisés Cuero, who in 1999 played the South American U-17 with 20 years and with the name of Alberto Cuero.

For this reason, he was suspended for life but only served six months of punishment after a decision of the Constitutional Court. In that same tournament, the Ecuadorians Carlos Quiñonez and Andrés Quiñonez participated being of legal age. To make matters worse, they said they were twins, when they were not even family. Faced with this, they received a six-month sanction by the Federation.

An older World Cup

The Brazilian Carlos Alberto played the U-20 World Cup, which took place in 2003 in the Arab Emirates, counting on more age than allowed. At that time he was 25 years old, and Brazilian sports justice suspended him for 30 days when he admitted that he falsified his identity.

Or the last sub-20 world title in Brazil in 2003. Carlos Alberto, ex-Figueirense, was not a group. I know that I've been five years more.

– Arthur Virgílio (@ arthurvirgili0) October 16, 2009

In an interview with CBN radio, and released by Elmundo.es, Carlos Alberto confessed the reasons that led him to do this: "I was going hungry and I wanted to help my mother, but I regret it. One day the truth appears, "said the Brazilian.

He confirmed that at that time he was 28 years old, and that he had really been born on January 25, 1978 and not on January 24, 1983. He also confessed that the falsification of his identity document occurred in 2000 in Rio de Janeiro by a friend who was in charge of convincing him.

'Coffee growers' caused a stir in Ecuador

The Colombian soccer players, Rinson Lopez and Carlos Moreno posed as Ecuadorians with the goal of playing in the League of this country. In the first instance, Lopez played in clubs in Ecuador such as Aucas, Espoli and El Nacional and told El Expreso that they helped him to falsify the documents.

He was sanctioned for six months, returned to Colombia, and was knocking on doors in professional teams in order to have an opportunity. "I was resigned to not play football and a person appeared who made us the papers as Ecuadorians," Lopez told AS Colombia.com.

On the other hand, the central defender 'coffee' who acted with Emelec, Carlos Moreno falsified documents to pass as Esmeraldo., Played 9 games with the 'electric' in 2017 when he was 26 years old and not 22, as he intended.

LatinAmerican Post | Daniel Cuevas

Copy edited by Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz