ROME: Three people have been arrested after a network to bring talented young Ivorian footballers, among them Inter Milan midfielder Assane Gnoukouri, into Italy was dismantled, Italian police said Friday.
Two Ivorian nationals and an Italian are alleged to have used false documents to bring in five players including midfielder Gnoukouri, who joined Serie A side Inter in 2014, and was loaned last season to Udinese.
Gnoukouri, now aged 21, featured on the Ivory Coast under-23 team, but has not played this season because of a heart condition.
Police said that the head of the network, a 32-year-old Italian, acted as a scout for talented young Ivorian players and found families originally from the west African nation willing to pass for the youngsters' parents.
"False documents were then made in the Ivory Coast proving the family relationship and as such obtaining a visa and a residence permit to reunite the family," police claim.
The two other people arrested were Ivorians who acted as intermediaries between the real families in Africa and the fake parents in Italy.
Five others are also being investigated, including the parents of the presumed head of the Italian network, who housed the young footballers in Italy.