Figueirense star Carlos Alberto de Oliveira Junior has been dropped following allegations that he lied about his age.
A report in Tuesday’s Folha de São Paulo claimed that the player was born on January, 24th, 1978 – five years earlier than his declared date of birth. Alberto formed part of Brazil’s World Youth Cup winning team of 2003 and if the allegations prove to be true it would mean he was 25 at the time.
The club’s Vice-President of legal affairs João Batista Baby commented, “We will wait to see what steps the CBF takes. We have suspended the athlete until it can be verified if he is guilty or not. These are our steps.” The club has called in the CBF to ensure an independent investigation.
Meanwhile the Sports Justice Tribunal (STJD) has warned that the Santa Catarina side run the risk of being docked up to 24 points if they are implicate in the scandal. The player, if found guilty is likely to face a heavy fine and suspension of between of between 180 and 720 days.
Figueirense argue that Alberto had already been registered with the CBF and joined the Selecão before he arrived in Florianopolis and argued that it is simply not possible to attempt to verify the authenticity of all the documents that are presented to the club.
The player has so far refused to comment.
Carlos Alberto, not to be confused with the Corinthians star of the same name joined Figueirense in 2003 having begun his career at Caxias de Joinville and enjoyed spells at Marcílio Dias and Guarani. The midfielder started five of Brazil’s seven games at the 2003 World Youth Cup, although he missed the final against Spain.
After a good season at Figueirense São Paulo have expressed their desire to see the player in red, white and black next season and insist the latest revelations change nothing.
