A fake football team claiming to be the Togo national football team lost 3-0 to Bahrain. Kept the money.
Bahrain's national soccer federation invited Togo, a small West African country with a highly regarded soccer team, to play an exhibition match.
At least $60,000 was spent on flights, hotels and other expenses, and in early September, the Bahrain team lined up against 11 players in Togo jerseys. The Togo players weren't as good as the Bahrainians expected, and the Persian Gulf team won 3-0.
On Sept. 7 the Togo team wasn't actually in Bahrain — but on a bus returning from an official game in Botswana.
Doubts emerged during the second half of the 90-minute game, when the Togo players began to look nothing like the top-class athletes who normally play for the team. Each fake Togolese player was paid some $300, while each squad staff member received $1,000.
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