Yet another African player is facing age cheat allegation. This time, it involves a 17-year-old Cameroonian, Joseph Minala, who plays for Lazio. The young star is said to look older than his acclaimed age and has faced several abuses on social media, which has made him shut down his social media accounts.

The internet was awash with pictures of the teenage midfielder with everyone staggered that he was just 17. Manila blocked photos on his Instagram account, deleted his Facebook profile and filtered out Twitter pictures of himself, he however tweeted a message, which has been translated thus : “Envy is the weakness of man, and those with a poor soul hurt others when you are in Serie A. Love you! Forza Lazio.”

His club, Lazio has however released a separate statement confirming the paperwork on his birth is “absolutely legitimate” and registered with the football federation.

“Lazio denounce this latest attempt from hostile figures to throw a sinister light on this club” and are prepared to take legal action to “protect the good name” of the club and its players,” they said.