Ex-Barcelona and Portugal star accused of making twin brother play in his place as club faces punishment

Former Barcelona academy graduate Edgar Ie has been accused of sending his twin brother to play in his place for a top-flight football club in Romania. The 30-year-old made one first team appearance for Barcelona under the guidance of Luis Enrique and was tipped to become a future star after impressive spells with the Catalan side’s B team, while also earning caps for Portugal at U21 level.

Edgar currently plays his football for FC Dinamo București where he has so far made five appearances, although Marca understands that the footballer’s twin brother Edelino Ié has been playing in his place.

Suspicions started to come to the forefront when Edgar Ie did not speak English, only Portuguese, even though he has played in the Netherlands, Spain, and France for the likes of Feyenoord, Lille and Villarreal.

Edelino on the other hand, has spent nearly all of his career in Portugal. He progressed through the Sporting CP academy and bar a brief loan spell in Lithuania, has played the majority of his football further down the Portuguese pyramid, although he has allegedly not played professionally since 2018.

According to Romanian journalist Emanuel Rosu, the club asked the player in question to provide his driving licence to prove his identity.  However, he refused, which has only seen suspicions grow stronger.

If found to be guilty of what has been accused, Dinamo Bucharest could have eight points deducted, which would likely come into effect at the start of next season.