A rumor has been going on for a few hours that “Beninese taxpayers’ money” has allegedly been used to train Ghanaian footballer Mohammed Kudus, currently competing in Qatar with the Black Stars. It’s not true!

Our checks prove that the player was not one of the young Beninese sent for training in Brazil in 2012 by the State.

Invited to the “Media Café” talk on Friday, November 25, Ambroise Zinsou, a sports journalist, said that the Ghanaian footballer “Mohammed Kudus is of Beninese origin”.

These comments were relayed on social media and sparked heated controversy around the “Social inclusion through the practice of football” project initiated by the The Republic of Benin in 2012 as part of a partnership between the west African country and Brazil.

The project consisted of sending 22 young people who had dropped out of school but were passionate about football in Brazil to be trained in the discipline for about a year. The project was only reserved for Beninese children up to 14 years old.

This Tuesday, November 29, the day after the match between Ghana and South Korea at the current world cup in Qatar and which Ghana won thanks to a double from Mohammed Kudus, the declarations of the Beninese sports journalist, Ambroise Zinsou, resurface.




The daily “La Tempête Infos” takes up the words of Ambroise Zinsou on their Facebook page stating that: “He was one of those who had been sent to Brazil for a training course just like Tosin aiyegun, Samson Akiyoola, under the era of former President Boni YAYI…”


The publication, shared 8 times, with several reactions from Internet users is at the time when we put this article online, on the Facebook of the newspaper which has more than 30,000 followers on this platform.




Obviously, many Beninese dopped their angry comments : “So what had gone wrong from that time until now for him to end up in the Ghanaian team? Also look at those who have taken the reins of Beninese football to see if there has been any opacity regarding its integration in the meantime”, left in comments, a user. Another, makes fun of it: “When it shines,… we stick a Beninese side to it! Hello !”


Contrary to this publication, several pieces of evidence show that the information relayed on social media is false.

Childhood in Nima in Accra

According to our verifications, the footballer Mohammed Kudus was born on August 2, 2000 in Nima, a residential town of Zongo in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. He comes from a family of 4 children.

At school age, Mohammed Kudus was enrolled in a public school in Nima, Accra. His passion for football earned him the nickname “Mo” in his birthplace.

At the same time, “Mo” was a food vendor alongside his mother at Nima Market in Accra.


Training at “Right to Dream Academy”

Mohammed Kudus was trained at the “Right to Dream Academy” center in Ghana from 2012 to 2018. He discovered the European championship in January 2018 thanks to his first professional contract won with the Danish club, FC Nordsjaelland.



Origins of Mohamed Kudus parents


Mohammed Kudus’ parents are from Ghana and from the Hausa ethnic group. Mariama Suleman is her mother and Idris Kudus, her father. Both Muslims, they live in Zongo in Nima, a popular area of Accra in Ghana.

Disclaimer

The sports journalist who gave the information on “Café media” on November 25 has allegedly rectified. In a publication circulating on WhatsApp, he said he was “mistaken on the identity of the player”. “The player Mohammed Kudus is not Beninese. I sincerely apologize to everyone for this inconvenience,” wrote Ambroise Zinsou.


Verdict

Footballer Mohammed Kudus is Ghanaian by birth and parentage. He was trained from 2012 to 2018 at “Right to Dream Academy”, a professional football training center located in Ghana. So, logically, Mohammed did not benefit from the “Social inclusion through the practice of football” project initiated exclusively for the benefit of out-of-school youth in Benin by the Beninese State in partnership with Brazil. Since this Benino-Brazilian program covered the period 2012 – 2013. From 2012 to 2018, Mohammed Kudus was in training at “Right to Dream Academy” in Ghana.

Source: AfrikPage