The Daily Mail said in a report that Società Sportiva Lazio released official documents to prove that its football star Joseph Marie Minala is still a teenager after reports surfaced that the player was overaged. Minala came under fire and garnered online abuse in social media sites after pictures of him were released. The 17 year-old was thought to be much older, with quotes in Senegalese media saying that he is actually 41 years old, the UK newspaper said.
Both Minala's agent and the Italian football club came out to diss the age claims and attempted to silence rumors by showing paper work to media as proof that he was of the correct age to play for Lazio.
"Lazio denounce this latest attempt from hostile figures to throw a sinister light on this club. We reserve the right to take action against those responsible for the protection of the good name of the company and the footballer," a statement released by the sports club read.
The Cameroon native plays attacking midfielder for the Roman giants since August of last year. The Daily Mail said Minala's skills were impressive for a youth player, which probably added fire to the speculation.
Minala himself, released a statement referring to the allegations on a Senegalese website, which read, "I have read the alleged statements posted on the website senego.net in which it says I confessed my real age which was different to what was stated in my [official] documents. They are false statements that have been attributed to me by people who do not know."
Following the height of the age allegations, Minala was reportedly forced to delete his social media accounts or block his photo content due to the repeated abuse he received online.
Diego Tavano, Minala's agent, said about Minala's appearance surrounding the allegations to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, "He had a difficult time growing up. If you talk to him you'll realize he is in every way a 17-year-old lad."
