A Guinean footballer playing for the local team of Vitoriosa Stars FC admitted to attempting to travel out of Malta using a counterfeit ID card, with his record now holding accusations of document forgery, processing and using such a document.
According to Prosecutor Hubert Gerada, Desire Koiba, who is a 24-year-old Guinean national residing in Ghaxag, has been arrested after attempting to travel abroad with a false passport.
Joseph Brincat, his legal representative, said that the accused had shouldered responsibility, as the punishment for such cases can result in a six-month effective jail term. On the other hand, Prosecutor Gerada insisted on an effective prison sentence.
He knew he was in the Schengen area and tried to obtain a false document to travel to other countries in the Schengen area.
The court adjourned the case for judgment to October 25. Koiba will be remanded in custody till then.
This would not be the first time that foreign football players misused their function to try and reach other European countries as last month, the Belgian State Secretary for Asylum and Migration revealed that several Burundi athletes who went missing from Croatia in August had applied for asylum in the country.
According to Croatian authorities, ten young men had left their accommodation spot at a university residence in Rijeka, while a few days later, the authorities said that ten handball players that had come to the European country to participate in the Junior World Championship had gone missing.
However, Belgian authorities claimed that although the Burundian athletes were welcomed to apply for asylum in the country, they are Croatia’s responsibility, indicating that the foreign athletes have benefited from a short-stay visa for their tournament to obtain asylum from the other Schengen country.
Our services are therefore contacting Croatia to organise their return, which is only possible if they are of legal age. This transit of asylum seekers to different European countries is exactly what is wrong with European asylum policy.
Currently, Belgium is dealing with an accommodation crisis, pushing authorities to provide accommodation primarily to families with children. The European country has been calling for a better distribution of asylum seekers between member countries for months now.
In general, the top ten countries of origin for applicants for international protection in Belgium include Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine, and Burundi, while Guinea is positioned ninth on this list.
