Football coaching license fraud investigation

Former Argentine footballer Alejandro Mancuso, a former assistant to Diego Maradona, has been accused of orchestrating a scheme to sell fraudulent coaching licenses to high-profile South American football stars. Investigations suggest Mancuso offered an ‘urgent process’ to obtain four levels of coaching certifications (C, B, A, and PRO) from the Asociación de Técnicos del Fútbol Argentino (ATFA) for approximately 100,000 reais. This allowed players to bypass the required training and examinations, with documents reportedly delivered via mail within ten days.

Several prominent Brazilian and Uruguayan players have been linked to the scheme, including Thiago Silva, Roberto Carlos, Felipe Melo, Diego Lugano, Luiz Gustavo, Alex de Souza, Dejan Petkovic, and Paolo Guerrero. Some players, such as Alex, admitted to seeking the licenses for ‘ease,’ while others, including Roberto Carlos and Thiago Silva, stated they received the documents but never used them because they did not complete the official courses.

ATFA has denied any connection to Mancuso, stating he holds no official position, is not authorized to represent the association, and that the documents are fake. Mancuso has denied wrongdoing, claiming he acted only as a ‘facilitator’ by providing contact information for the federation.

Following the investigation, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) canceled the coaching registration of Diego Souza, the manager of Joinville. While Souza may continue working with his club, he is prohibited from being on the technical bench during matches or signing match reports until his status is regularized.