The African football governing body, Confederation of Africa Football (CAF), has kicked off an investigation over age manipulation by a Gabonese player, Guelor Kanga, who declared that he was born in 1990, but it emerged that his mother reportedly died in 1985, thereby throwing his age claim into doubt.
Guélor Kanga is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Red Star Belgrade and the Gabon national team.
Kanga, who is originally from Congo, was petitioned by CAF after the Congolese Football Federation (FECOFA) launched a complaint against Gabon for fielding a player who forged his identity.
FECOFA believes that Kanga, whose current passport shows he was born on September 1, 1990, in Oyem, is in fact Kiaku Kiaku Kiangana who was born on October 5, 1985, in Kinshasa, DRC.
The federation stated that the player forged his identity when he arrived at the Gabonese second division club GBI.
According to them, there is no way the player would have been born in 1990 if his mother died in 1985, unless she resurrected and gave birth to him, which is clearly not possible.
If the player is found guilty, the Gabonese Football Federation could be charged with forgery concerning the administrative documents presented by the player and non-compliance with the FIFA procedure relating to his change of sporting nationality when he moved from Congo to Gabon.
These irregularities could possibly lead to disqualification of the country from the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2022, which is scheduled to hold in Cameroon, and a suspension for the next two editions of AFCON.