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VfB Stuttgart striker Silas Wamangituka recently made it known to the club that he had been the victim of manipulation by his former player agent and that Wamangituka is not his real name. With the support of VfB and a new agent, Silas has been working intensively on clearing up the situation and finally received the corresponding official documentation from Democratic Republic of Congo a few days ago.
VfB Stuttgart sporting director Sven Mislintat said, “First and foremost, Silas has been the victim of this change of name. I have the greatest respect for the fact that at a young age, he has taken the brave step to clarify his situation. We will continue to give him all the help he needs in absolutely every respect.”
Silas Katompa Mvumpa added, “Over the past few years, I was constantly living in fear and was also very worried for my family in Congo. It was a tough step for me to take to make my story public and I would never have had the courage to do so if Stuttgart, my team and VfB had not become like a second home and a safe place to me.”
The following accounts and documents regarding the divergence in personal information have been made known to VfB Stuttgart:
Silas’ actual name is Katompa Mvumpa. He was born on October 6, 1998 in Kinshasa (Congo), which currently makes him 22 years old. In 2017 at the age of 18, he was a bright young talent who was invited for a trial by RSC Anderlecht. Silas received a visa to travel to Belgium for this purpose, valid from August 15 to November 14, 2017, in his correct name of Katompa Mvumpa. Shortly before the visa expired, RSC Anderlecht were interested in signing him, but asked Silas to return to Congo and then come back to Belgium with a new visa to sign the contract.
As this situation unfolded, an agent is said to have put Silas under considerable pressure in Belgium and convinced him that he would not be allowed to return to Europe if he left Belgium and went back to Congo.
Silas trusted the agent and went to live with him in Paris. He then changed his identity and papers were created for him in the name of Silas Wamangituka (one of the names of his father) and with a date of birth that was exactly one year different from his own, 6 October 1999. From this point onwards, Silas was under the influence of the agent who syphoned off part of his wages and threatened him that he would never play football again if the matter ever became public.
Trust established at VfB
Silas moved to VfB Stuttgart ahead of the 2019/20 season. Once he had built up a relationship of trust in Stuttgart and gradually been able to distance himself from his agent, Silas battled his considerable fears of that man and made his situation known to the club, and decided to change agents.
Thanks to his considerable efforts to clear up the situation, Silas now has a valid Congolese passport with his correct personal details.
It is in the interests of both Silas and VfB to ensure that the situation is handled correctly from hereon in.
