Alamara Djabi, former Benfica prospect, is actually 24, not 18 | OneFootball

Upon arriving in Portugal from Guinea-Bissau, his documents indicated that he was 12 years old. In reality, he was 18. Alamara Djabi stood out in Benfica’s youth ranks, but always in the wrong age groups. He currently plays for Midtjylland in Denmark.

Alamara was first registered in 2005 as “Alamara Viriato, born on September 28, 2000”.

An investigation by Público reveals that the current footballer was listed as the son of Sumba Viriato and Sábado Manuel Intchala.

Fourteen years later, on May 13, 2019, a “miracle” is said to have occurred. The same registry office then issued a different certificate, based on several changes made in 2017.

Only in that year did Alamara start being called Djabi – Alamara Viriato Djabi. The father was now listed as Mamadu Cirem Djabi. In addition to these changes, the date of birth was moved forward six years – to September 28, 2006.

According to Público, it was this certificate that was used when Alamara arrived in Portugal to play football in February 2019; it was also used as the basis for granting Portuguese nationality on November 11, 2021.

Alamara arrived from the Academia Atlético da Guiné-Bissau and his first destination was Sporting, where he stayed for only a week. The young footballer – who claimed to be 12 years old, when in reality he was 18 – then moved on to Sporting de Braga. Público reports that he attracted interest, but the absence of essential documents (residence visa and Citizen Card number) prevented his registration with the FPF.

At the end of 2019, still without a club, Alamara’s representative turned to the well-known agent Cátio Baldé (Bruma’s agent). According to Público, this agent submitted documentation to Olivais e Moscavide, allowing Alamara to be registered with the FPF.

This club is said to have served as a “springboard” to Benfica, since just four days later, Alamara was already training at Seixal.

Djabi represented Benfica from 2020 to 2023, playing in the under-15, under-17, and under-19 categories, supposedly between the ages of 13 and 16.

However, in reality he was six years older. In other words, he always played in lower age groups.

He did not win any titles in Benfica’s youth system. In 2023/24, the defensive midfielder transferred to the Danish club Midtjylland, where he remains. Last season, he was loaned to Mafra.

As highlighted by Público’s investigation, age falsification and lack of controls in Alamara’s case are far from exceptional; this exposes a serious structural problem in football.

“Through access to unprecedented databases and multiple sources of information,” the newspaper confirms that there are many players in the same situation.

And it’s not just in Portugal. It was recently discovered that the “young” German football prospect, Youssoufa Moukoko, from Borussia Dortmund, may actually be four years older than his documents state.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.