Borussia Dortmund’s star, Youssoufa Moukoko has had his age questioned following the controversy surrounding Cameroon’s under-17s. 
Moukoko was born in Yaounde, Cameroon, before moving to Germany in 2014 where he was adopted. The footballer who joined Dortmund in 2016, has gone about breaking all sorts of records for the Bundesliga giants already. He became the youngest player to reach a number of achievements, from playing in the UEFA Youth League at 14 to becoming the youngest Bundesliga goalscorer in history, just two years later. The player who has attracted interest from big clubs around the world, also has a cult following on Football Manager. However, in the last few days, there’s been an age fraud controversy arising in Cameroon. The country’s under-17 side was preparing to play Central Africa in qualifying games for the Nations Cup this month when it was discovered that 21 of the 30-strong squad failed age tests. 
New players were quickly drafted in by coach Jean Pierre Fiala but, in a further humiliation, it was discovered that 11 of the additions were also over-age. Following the controversy, Austrian publication Laoloa 1, has reported that the teenager’s birth certificate might be wrong and he may be 22-years-old. The publication claims that Moukoko’s adoptive father had sent the alleged unearthed birth certificate to a journalist. In Germany, it’s been alleged that a birth certificate dated 2000 with the name Yousouffa Mohamadou and attributed to Dortmund striker Moukoko, was discovered in 2022. It is not the first time that he has faced questions regarding his age, his coaches at Dortmund couldn’t agree how old he was back in 2017, though the German FA denied any wrongdoing. 
At the time, the German FA released a statement that read; “The DFB has already had a number of intensive discussions with Borussia Dortmund at various levels. “At the DFB’s request for careful consideration of the facts, those responsible at Borussia Dortmund always point to the authenticity of the papers and documents, which are also known by DFB. “There is therefore no doubt about the correctness of the age of the player. In this matter, the DFB relies on the details of the home club of the player.”