On Sunday, Bakery Jatta was back on the pitch in the Hamburger SV jersey, shirt number 18. The fast striker from Gambia has been one of the best HSV players for years, losing 1-0 this time in Hanover, but doubts about his origins continue to haunt him . Now the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office has brought charges: They accuse Jatta of actually being Bakary Daffeh and of having deceived the authorities.
The news made the rounds on Monday, after years of rumors and investigations. Accordingly, the football professional is charged with violating the Residence Act in four cases and indirect false certification. The district court of Altona must decide whether a main hearing is to be opened. Jatta would stand before the court according to the youth law, the alleged offenses relate partly to his time as an adolescent.
According to his papers, Bakery Jatta is 23 years old, born on June 6, 1998 in Gunjur. In 2015 he came to Germany from Italy with the status of an unaccompanied refugee. In January 2016, at the age of 17, he landed at the former Bundesliga club HSV for a trial training session at the age of 17, following positions in a Bremen initial admission team, Werder’s offspring and a youth academy. A story like a dream.
Jatta is an idol with HSV fans, and local rival St. Pauli also shows solidarity
If you met him in those days, he would tell you that in Africa he played in a kind of football school, never in a club. He did not talk about his escape. At 18, Jatta got a contract with HSV, he was relegated with HSV and is one of the most noticeable figures in league two. But stubborn critics quickly accused him of being Bakary Daffeh, born on November 6, 1995.
That Daffeh would have been 20 when he arrived. The public prosecutor’s office accuses Jatta of obtaining a tolerance with false information and then having obtained a residence permit and later a driver’s license “partly by submitting ID documents from Gambia which have since been obtained”.
That Daffeh is said to have previously played for clubs in Gambia, Nigeria and Senegal and introduced himself to an Italian third division team, after which his trace was lost. In 2014 he scored the goal for the 1-0 victory of the Gambian U-20s in Liberia, qualifying for the Africa Cup. After that, Gambia was excluded because five players with incorrect ages competed, but not Daffeh.
“None of that convinces me,” says the player’s lawyer
Above all image and Sports picture followed verbatim the suspicion that Jatta was Daffeh. There was also an anonymous report. Jatta called the research a witch hunt, he is an idol with the fans. Although HSV opponents protested against game ratings, they withdrew their objections. The local rival FC St. Pauli shows special solidarity, its podcast “MillernTon” now tweeted: Das Schauspiel von image and public prosecution is unworthy and disproportionate.
Jatta’s attorney Thomas Bliwier responds professionally on the phone. Jatta has clearly proven his identity at the district office, says the lawyer. There was no room for criminal investigations and there was no sufficient suspicion, the proceedings must be discontinued in his opinion. He was surprised about a house search at Jatta and about an expert opinion from the University of Freiburg based on videos and photos by Jatta / Daffeh. “None of that convinces me,” says Bliwier. He will appeal and see the case relatively calmly.