International sports lawyer, Abiodun Sonaike, has said that fake football agents and scammers are a major threat to football academies and amateur clubs in Africa.
Sonaike, who is a Partner at Lithos Legal Consult, spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday. He said that these fake agents are hurting player development and breaking trust in the sport.
"One of the biggest threats facing football academies and amateur clubs in Africa today is not a lack of talent, but the emergence of fake agents and football scammers," he said.
He explained that academy owners often get messages from people claiming to have connections with clubs in Europe, Asia, and other places. These fraudsters are tricky.
They send fake invitation letters and forge transfer documents to trick people into giving them money. "They go as far as posing with ex-internationals to create a false impression of influence and even clone the social media accounts of genuine agents," Sonaike said.
Some of these scammers promise trials, contracts, visas, and transfers that are never real and will never happen. This is a serious issue for many.
Sonaike pointed out that many academies only realize they have been scammed after they have lost money and valuable time. In some cases, they also lose the trust of players and their parents.
He is not happy about the growing number of these scams and believes there should be more awareness about how these fraudsters operate. Education is key in fighting this problem.
To help tackle this issue, Sonaike said he will lead talks on due diligence and fraud prevention at the Elite Football Management and Business Masterclass 2026.
"I will be discussing how football managers can protect their academies, clubs, and players from fraud, as well as sharing real-life experiences from football transactions and disputes," he said.
The EFMBM 2026 is set to take place in Lagos on July 10 and 11.
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