'I was victim of Nigeria football conmen'

"The memory of that incident always kind of shocks me," says Isaiah Akpan.

He shakes his head as he recalls the gamble he took in the hope of achieving his dream of football stardom in the richest league in the world, the English Premiership.

Instead of taking the first step to sporting fame and fortune, he fell victim to conmen who left him penniless - stranded and alone in a foreign country.

The Nigerian 18-year-old lives in Apapa, a northern district of Lagos. Home is a small tin roof shack, where he and his two brothers share one bed.

It is a world away from the millionaire lifestyles of the Premiership stars, whose pictures decorate the walls.

Mr Akpan, like thousands of soccer-mad African teenagers, puts his details on sports networking websites.

Players as young as 12 post their pictures, e-mail addresses, phone numbers - even scans of pages from their passport.

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The hope is that just maybe this will attract the attention of somebody with connections who will help them get a deal with an English club.

"Why most of us want agents is because they can help us; telling us what the clubs are all about and getting better clubs of my choice. Most of these agents, they are linked to clubs in Europe," he says.

What Mr Akpan and many other amateur hopefuls do not realise is that under British immigration rules, it would be impossible for them to get a work permit.

They would not qualify as they have not yet played several games for their own national teams.

Many also appear to be unaware that no English club would ask for money from a player they are thinking of signing.

And it is this sort of naivety which is now being exploited by crooks.

Stranded

So it was not long before Mr Akpan was e-mailed by two men who said they were football agents.

They men claimed to be so impressed with his online posting that they could arrange him a trial to play for an English team. But at a price.