Unprecedented fraud: Ex-Barcelona player signed for Dinamo Bucharest, twin brother played for him
A former Barcelona player is being investigated over claims he forced his twin brother to play for his new club instead of himself.
Players deemed good enough to play for Barcelona at youth level tend to go on to enjoy stellar careers.
However, this is not always the case, as evidenced by one of the strangest things ever to happen in professional football
According to reports from Marca and media in Romania, Dinamo Bucharest are investigating whether their defender Edgar Ie forced his twin brother to play five games in his place without the club’s knowledge.
The 30-year-old signed for the club in February to help in their battle against relegation from the Romanian top flight, but it now appears that the player who actually arrived in Bucharest was his twin brother Edelino.
The apparent hoax was discovered by journalist Daniel Sendre, who reported that Dinamo became suspicious when the player claiming to be Edgar Ie could only communicate in Portuguese, despite playing in Spain, France, Turkey and the Netherlands.
Guinea-Bissau international Edgar spent three years with Barcelona B before playing for clubs including Villarreal B, Lille, Trabzonspor and Feyenoord.
In contrast, his brother Edelino has spent almost his entire career playing in Portugal.
According to Romanian journalist Emanuel Rosu, suspicions were further raised when Edgar reportedly refused to show the club his driver’s license when asked.
A source within the Romanian Football Federation said iAMsport that a DNA test can be used to resolve the dispute.
The federation has no official guidelines for such situations, but if the alleged cheating is proven and if Dinamo were aware of it, then the club could be deducted the eight points it earned in the five games Edelino played in place of Edgar Ie.
