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DOUBLE IDENTITY . . . Taguy Agiti Etekiama, who also has another name Birori Dady, and is Congolese when he plays in the Champions League, and Rwandese when he plays in the Nations Cup, has been banned from football by Caf and Rwanda thrown out of the 2015 Nations Cup qualifiers

Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor—
THE AS Vita forward whose golden goal knocked out Dynamos from the Champions League this year has been banned indefinitely from all forms of football by the Confederation of African Football after being unmasked as a cheat who uses a double identity. The 28-year-old used a Congolese passport and the name Tady Agiti Etekiama, when he played for AS Vita in the Champions League this year, but then changed his name, and nationality, to Birori Dady, when he featured for Rwanda in the 2015 Nations Cup qualifiers.

He also used two different ages on his Congolese and Rwandese identities.
Etekiama or Dady, depending on which name suits your taste, converted the priceless goal from the penalty spot, in the 38th minute, at the Father Raphael Stadium in Kinshasa in March this year which gave the Congolese giants a 1-0 aggregate victory in a Champions League first round showdown.

Malawian referee Anthony Ramsey Raphael awarded the Congolese side the penalty after ruling that former Dynamos centre-back, Partson Jaure, had handled inside the penalty area, triggering a wave of protests from the Glamour Boys.

When order was restored, Etekiama kept his cool, under intense pressure, and stroked home the spot-kick to give AS Vita the lead, which they never surrendered despite a strong second half comeback from the Glamour Boys, to qualify for the second round.

The two teams had settled for a goalless draw in the first leg at the National Sports Stadium which put DeMbare on the back foot ahead of the deciding second leg in Kinshasa.

AS Vita went on to destroy Kaizer Chiefs 3-0, in the first leg of their second round clash in Kinshasa, although Etekiama wasn’t on target, and although they lost the second leg 0-2 in Johannesburg, they qualified for the group stages 3-2 on aggregate.

The Congolese giants have now qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League after taking their tally to 10 points, from five matches, winning three, drawing one and losing only one match, to rivals TP Mazembe, who also made it into the last four raising the possibility of an all-Congolese final in the tournament this year.

Etekiama has scored four of the goals that have powered AS Vita into the semi-finals, including the one that eliminated Dynamos in the first round of the competition, but he will now be ineligible to play for his team for the remainder of the tourney.

But while Etekiama has been featuring for AS Vita as a Congolese national, using a Congolese passport, he assumed another identity when it came to the national team as he played for Rwanda under a different passport and a different name.

He scored all three goals as Rwanda knocked out Libya in the first round of the 2015 Nations Cup qualifiers but while the North Africans questioned his eligibility to play for the Wasps, their official protest was dismissed by Caf. But when Etekiama was fielded in the second round of the 2015 Nations Cup qualifiers, in the victory over Congo Brazzaville, matters came to a head when another protest was filed by the losing team and forced Caf to investigate.

The player was summoned to the Caf headquarters in Cairo last week, to present his case, and Caf then decided that they had enough proof that he was a cheat, who had double identity, and should be banned from playing for his club and country.

Rwanda were also disqualified from the 2015 Nations Cup qualifiers, for using Etekiama, and Congo Brazzaville were reinstated in the tournament.
Libya, though, have a right to feel betrayed by Caf.

“The Organising Committee of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday, August 17, 2014 disqualified Rwanda from the qualifiers of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2015,” Caf said on their official website. “The decision followed a protest made by the Congolese Football Federation (FECOFOOT) during the first leg match of the second round of qualifying played against Rwanda on 20 July 2014 in Pointe-Noire.

“The protest by Congo contested the eligibility of the player Birori Dady aligned with Rwanda, and plays for the AS Vita Club of Kinshasa with Congolese (DRC) passport as Etekiama Agiti Tady, and a different age.

“Following investigations by CAF and on the basis of documents provided by the federations of Rwanda, Congo and DR Congo, and hearing the player’s testimony on 11 August 2014 at CAF headquarters in Cairo, CAF established that the two identities only referred to a single person.

“While the Rwandan Football Federation (FERWAFA) maintained that to their knowledge the player Dady Birori had one identity, investigations revealed that he was summoned as Etekiama Agiti Tady by FERWAFA to join the national team of Rwanda.

“Based on these and other findings, the Organising Committee of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations in accordance with Article 41 of the regulations of the Africa Cup of Nations, and Articles 82 and 83.1 of CAF Disciplinary Code, decided as follows:

Immediately suspend the player Etekiama Agiti Tady / Birori Dady until further notice and ban him from playing for club and the national team
Rwanda declared losers of No.37 against Congo, and consequently being eliminated from the competition

Consign Congo to the group phase of the qualifiers of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations — Morocco in 2015 in Group A, as replacement for Rwanda
Reserved the right to confirm the exact length of the player’s suspension and to impose additional sanctions if necessary at the next meeting of the Organising Committee scheduled for 17 September 2014

Urged players and stakeholders to regulate the situation of dual identity
The decision of the Committee takes effect immediately and with option for appeal in accordance with the regulatory provisions in force in CAF Disciplinary Code.”

Etekiama, according to the documents that he was using for the Champions League, was born in Kinshasa in 1986 but has been playing for the Rwanda national team since 2009 although he uses a different name, and age, in national team colours.

While Congo Brazzaville have benefited from the unmasking of Etekiama as a cheat, by gaining a place in the 2015 Nations Cup group stages, Dynamos cannot be compensated for being eliminated by a goal from a cheat in this year’s Champions League.

There is a time-frame, within which protests can be entertained by CAF and when that passes, the case falls away although the Champions League Group A could be thrown into turmoil if both Al Hilal and Zamalek, who have played AS Vita in recent times, file protests.