It wasn’t a financial scam, but rather a bizarre and infamous footballing hoax.

⚽ What happened in the 1996 Southampton “scam”:

In November 1996, Graeme Souness, then-manager of Southampton, received a phone call from someone claiming to be George Weah (the former Ballon d’Or winner and legendary striker).

The caller (not actually Weah) recommended his “cousin” Ali Dia, claiming he was a talented Senegalese international who had played for Paris Saint-Germain and had recently been trialing at clubs like Bayern Munich.

Based on this false recommendation, Southampton signed Ali Dia on a one-month contract — without properly verifying his credentials.

🤯The match:

▪︎On November 23, 1996, Ali Dia was surprisingly named as a substitute against Leeds United.

▪︎He came on in the first half to replace the injured Matt Le Tissier.

▪︎However, his performance was shockingly poor, and he was substituted off himself in the second half.

▪︎Within days, Southampton terminated his contract.

👎 Why it’s infamous:

▪︎It became one of the most embarrassing moments in Premier League history.

▪︎Ali Dia had reportedly only played amateur-level football in lower leagues and at university.

▪︎The fact that he made it onto a Premier League pitch through pure fabrication has made the story legendary.

🔍 To clarify:

This wasn’t a “scam” in the traditional financial sense, but rather a footballing con job and possibly a prank that exposed how little vetting was done at the time.

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