confession
VfB striker Silas Wamangituka has apparently played with the wrong name and age
Silas Katompa Mvumpa is said to have been the victim of a nefarious players’ agent while forging her identity
© Tom Weller / DPA
Katompa Mvumpa instead of Wamangituka: For a long time, attacker Silas played under a false identity for VfB Stuttgart. Apparently his date of birth is also incorrect. The trigger should be a dubious players agent. Are there any consequences now?
The last name was probably wrong and the date of birth was obviously wrong: Silas Wamangituka, who was so enthusiastic last season, apparently played for the Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart for a long time under a false identity. His correct name is therefore Silas Katompa Mvumpa, as the Swabians announced on Tuesday. The winger’s date of birth was also probably incorrect. According to VfB information, Silas was born on October 6, 1998 in Kinshasa and is therefore 22 today, exactly one year older than originally assumed. It all came out because Silas had recently revealed himself to his club.
Accordingly, the Congolese reported to VfB officials that he had become a “victim of the machinations of his former players agent” and that Wamangituka was not his real name. In addition, the attacker named a different date of birth. Before that, since moving to VfB in the summer of 2019, he had probably not dared to tell sports director Sven Mislintat and CEO Thomas Hitzlsperger about his false identity. “I have lived in constant fear over the past few years and have also been very worried about my family in the Congo. It was a difficult step for me to reveal my story,” said Silas.
Players’ agents are said to have massively influenced Silas
According to VfB, this story begins in 2017 when the then 18-year-old was invited to a trial training session by the top Belgian club RSC Anderlecht. In order to be able to travel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Belgium, he is given a temporary visa. After a few training sessions, the RSC will probably sign him, but since his visa is about to expire, Silas must first go back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to get a new one. This is where the former players’ agent intervenes. Under massive pressure, this should have convinced Silas that he should not return to Europe once he left Belgium and traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“With regard to the name change, he is primarily a victim. We will protect him accordingly,” says Mislintat. Silas should have confidence in the mediator and become dependent. During this time he “apparently” had neither access to his account nor to his papers. Finally, the mediator also changed his identity and provided new papers. VfB suspects that this happened, on the one hand, to interrupt the striker’s connection to his training club in the Congo, and on the other hand, it increased Silas’ dependence on the mediator – since he was now open to blackmail.
VfB Stuttgart is in contact with the DFL and DFB
“Immediately after Silas had confided in us, we initiated all the necessary measures from our point of view and called in the responsible authorities,” says VfB boss Hitzlsperger. The club is therefore in contact with the German Football League (DFL) and the German Football Association (DFB). The Swabians do not fear consequences for the professional. According to a legal assessment of the facts, one assumes “that Silas was in possession of a valid license to play and is still going”. In addition, VfB expects that Silas will get a new eligibility to play in his real name in due course.
