Millions of kids dream of being a professional footballer. The thrill of playing against the best, the roar of adoring fans, and the allure of winning the biggest trophies entice them to embark on the arduous journey of becoming a pro.
Of course, very few aspirants manage to earn a living playing football, as the space is incredibly challenging to conquer. However, not everyone has let their skill shortage shatter their dream. They lied, forged, and conned their way to the clubs’ payroll (or came mighty close).
On April Fool’s Day, we will expose the greatest football scams in history, genius conmen who fooled clubs, fans, and even FIFA.
Let’s dive in!
#6 Bernio Verhagen – The Man Who Scammed Four Clubs in 9 Months
Bernio Verhagen gained notoriety when he bounced around four top-flight clubs across three continents over nine months in 2019. Shockingly, he secured the moves without playing even a single minute of professional football.
His persuasion skills and expertly forged documents first took him to FC Dinamo-Auto in Transnistria. Verhagen left shortly after joining, without playing a single minute of football. Next, he moved to one of the biggest teams in South Africa, Cape Town City FC. Once again, his stint was short-lived, and he failed to play even a single minute. His third term was in Chile with Audax Italiano. Despite not playing, he secured a lucrative contract, earning considerably more than many of his teammates. His wages allowed him to buy a big mansion in the country.
Verhagen’s exit from Audax Italiano was swift, and he almost immediately secured a switch to Danish side Viborg FF. However, unlike the last three clubs, Viborg FF did not allow him to leave quietly. After he failed to demonstrate even the most basic skills during his first training session, the Danish outfit immediately removed him, alleging fraud, document forgery, and identity theft.
Beyond football, Verhagen has pleaded guilty to criminal charges, including robbery and battery (Denmark 2020), leading to deportation and a 15-month prison sentence. In Colombia in 2021, he was arrested for impersonation and attempting to defraud sex workers. Finally, in 2023, a Dutch court sentenced him to nine years in prison for being involved in armed robberies between 2020 and 2021.
#5 Alessandro Zarelli – The Con Artist of Lisburn Distillery
Over the years, Italy has produced some of the finest footballers the game has ever seen. Producing jaw-dropping performances, they have put many clubs on the map. A bidding war ensues pretty much anytime a promising youngster comes out of Italy, which greatly helped Alessandro Zarelli’s mega football scam.
Zarelli made contact with Northern Ireland club Lisburn Distillery in the 2005-06 season, expressing his desire to join them as part of the Italian Football Federation-backed youth exchange program. Calling himself a talented midfielder, Zarelli claimed he had represented the Glasgow Rangers, Leeds United, and Sheffield Wednesday and wanted to join a lower-ranked team to gain experience. According to the Italian, he left the Rangers at 16 due to homesickness, whereas a broken leg put an end to his trial run with Sheffield Wednesday.
The Belfast press was excited with his signing, with many outlets interviewing him after his switch. However, the scam, brilliant as it was, did not last long, as his lack of footballing ability led to his contract termination. Zarelli pulled off similar scams at Welsh side Bangor City and Connah’s Quay Nomads.
In 2006, Zarelli’s story became quite popular thanks to Sky TV documentary Super Fakes.
#4 Gregoire Akcelrod – The Would-Be CSKA Sofia Star
A die-hard Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) supporter, Gregoire Akcelrod, played for the club’s amateur side in the bottom tier of French football. The Frenchman was convinced that he was destined for bigger things, so he set a rather elaborate plan in motion.
He created a fake website, claiming he played for PSG’s reserve team. To back his claim, he regularly posted match reports from L’Equipe, passing Nicolas Anelka’s exploits as his own. He even snuck into PSG’s stadium to take photos of himself in the full kit, further bolstering his claims.
In 2003, he faked his way to a trial for Swindon Town. During the first trial, he made a complete hash of an attempted header, with the ball hitting his face. The club laughed him off. He got another trial for Swindon Town down the road, and that time, he scored a brace in a friendly. Swindon still decided against signing him.
Despite a couple more poor trials at Bournemouth and Norwich City, Akcelrod somehow convinced Bulgarian giants CSKA Sofia to give him a shot. After a successful trial, the club — that had secured Champions League football that season — offered him a three-year deal worth £15,000 per month.
Just before his signing, a curious Sofia fan went on PSG fan forums to inquire about Akcelrod. Since Akcelrod never played for PSG’s reserve team, the fans had never heard about him. The Sofia fan immediately notified the Bulgarian press about his findings, and Akcelrod’s elaborate scam finally fell apart in 2009.
#3 Dexter Rosales – The Phantom Footballer
In July 2012, Australian side Adelaide United announced they would try American player Dexter Rosales. The A-League outfit offered the trial after then-United manager John Koshima got a tip from friend and agent Lou Nesci about Rosales — a free agent who had apparently played for Ajax, River Plate, and Valencia.
Rosales had a WikiPedia page, a Twitter account, an article on him from Associated Press — with a quote from Ajax boss Frank de Boer — and even an Ajax playing card. There was also a clip showing “his” footballing ability, which later turned out to be of Mauro Rosales.
It was going well until the week before the trial when conversations with Rosales’ supposed agent, Dimitri Kascovic, broke down. When it became clear that Rosales was not going to turn up, Adelaide United launched an investigation and discovered that all of his digital presence was doctored.
Rosales, however, maintains that he did play for Ajax and had trained with some big names.
#2 Ali Dia – The “George Weah Cousin”
The unofficial symbol of April Fool’s Day, Ali Dia, pulled off the greatest scam in Premier League history. In November 1996, then-Southampton boss Graeme Souness received a phone call from “FIFA World Player of the Year George Weah.” Through “Weah”, Souness learned that Dia had played for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Senegal and was looking for a club to prove himself. Souness thought he had found a hidden gem and lapped him up without trial.
This oversight ultimately turned out to be a blunder, as Dia delivered arguably the worst performance in Premier League history during his debut (as a substitute) against Leeds United. Dia was allegedly so poor that Souness had to take him off after 53 minutes.
Matt Le Tissier, who shared the pitch with Dia, said:
“He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice. It was very, very embarrassing to watch.”
Shortly after the game, an investigation commenced, and soon enough, Southampton realized that Dia had conned them. The Saints, embarrassed beyond words, terminated his contract in just two weeks. He played in England’s Sunday League before disappearing off the radar.
#1 Carlos Kaiser – The GOAT of Football Scams
The Greatest of All Time (GOAT) is a contentious subject in football, with Pele, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo all staking their claim. However, when it comes to scams, Carlos Henrique Raposo, better known as Carlos Kaiser, is undoubtedly the greatest in history, duping the footballing world for 13 years.
During his infamous run, the Brazilian signed for some massive clubs, including Botafogo, Fluminense, Puebla, and Bangu. He forged documents to appear as a Flamengo youth prodigy — a formidable striker. Botafogo, as well as Fluminense, Puebla, and Bangu all fell for it, thanks to his sensational persuasion skills.
Despite spending well over a decade in the sport, Kaiser never played for a single minute. He paid youth team players to injure him and doctors to create fake medical reports. The closest he came to playing was at Bangu, when the coach asked him to prepare to enter the pitch. During warm-up, Kaiser jumped the fence and got in a fight with a fan, claiming he disrespected Bangu’s owner, legendary gangster Castor de Andrade.
According to the scam artist himself, he tricked De Andrade later in the dressing room, convincing him that he was only defending his honour. Pleased with Kaiser, De Andrade ordered the club to extend his contract.
His audacious scam has been immortalized through the hit Amazon documentary Kaiser: The Greatest Footballer Never to Play Football.
