Togo's Soccer Imposters

A soccer team from Togo traveled to Bahrain to play against the Bahrain national team. Bahrain not only won, they were surprised at their opponent's lack of fitness. When the Togolese soccer authorities heard about the match, they were dumbfounded, because Togo had not sent a team to Bahrain!

Investigations were launched, and the nation's sports minister muttered to the press about "shadowy handlers" and "mafia groups." After what must have been a grueling piece of detective work, the investigators pinned their suspicions on Tchanile Bana, a former national-team coach who had recently been suspended for taking another fake team  to a tournament in Egypt. Bana confessed, apologized, was banned from the game for three years, and insisted—maybe a little too fervently—that he had acted alone.

Of course, there's a lot more to the story, which you can read at Slate. Link -via the Presurfer