Former Hearts of Oak midfielder Joe Tagoe, also known as Bobby Short, has confessed to falsifying his age during his football career.

Tagoe revealed that in 2017, he reduced his age from 35 to 19 in order to secure a spot with an Egyptian under-19 team, citing poverty and an unfair system as the driving forces behind his decision.

In an interview with ATV, Tagoe explained, “I was home and received a call from Francis Martey about an offer for an under-19 player.

Looking at my height, I said okay. At that time, I was about 34 or 35 years old. Poverty can make you do such things, and the system isn’t fair to us.”

Tagoe shared that training with much younger players was physically demanding and took a toll on his health.

He admitted that the intense regimen left him feeling dizzy and at risk of serious harm.

"I would have died if I hadn’t taken care of myself,” he reflected. “I trained with both the senior team and U-20s, but the running with the U-20s always left me dizzy."

In order to hide his true age, Tagoe went to great lengths, including dyeing his grey hair daily.

The strain eventually led him to quit, but he expressed that many players in similar circumstances face such difficult choices.

Reflecting on his journey, he added, "Many players like me face similar situations."