Two Southeast Asian players banned for age fraud

By Hieu Luong October 9, 2024 | 12:35 am PT

Jaimito Antonio Da Costa Soares (R) in the match that Timor Leste lost 3-5 to Vietnam in the penalty shootout in the semifinals of the 2022 AFF U23 Championship. Photo by VnExpress/Anh Quoc

Two Timor-Leste players have been banned from all football activities following an investigation by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) into age fraud at youth tournaments.

Defender Jaimito Antonio Da Costa Soares has been banned for 12 months and fined $10,000, while midfielder Antonio Da Costa Soares Moniz received a nine-month ban and a $5,000 fine. Both players failed to attend interviews or respond to written requests for information, prompting the AFC to conclude its investigation and impose disciplinary actions.

Moniz, born in 1996, participated in the 2016 AFC U19 Championship qualifiers despite being overage. The AFC said that Moniz used another person's ID to compete.

Jaimito, born on June 10, 2003, was found to have used a false ID to participate in the 2020 AFC U19 Championship qualifiers and the 2022 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, where Timor-Leste failed to qualify for the main events.

Jaimito has also competed in regional youth tournaments, including the 2022 AFF U23 Championship, where he was named in the best XI, and SEA Games 31. AFC discovered his violation after noting his participation in the 2015 AFF U19 Championship when he would have been just 12 years old at that time according to his fake ID.

"The players didn't act with the highest level of integrity," the AFC stated in its report, adding that actions like these tarnish the reputation of Asian football.

Timor-Leste, a developing country in Southeast Asia with a population of 1.35 million, has frequently faced suspicions of age fraud in football and the use of false documents to naturalize players. The country's men's football team is currently 196th out of 210 teams in the FIFA ranking.

In 2017, AFC disqualified 12 Timor-Leste players of Brazilian origin after discovering their passports were illegal. The Timor-Leste Football Federation was fined $76,000, while the then-general secretary Amandio de Araujo Sarmento was banned for three years from football activities and fined $9,000.