Noe Baba

[DannyInvincible]

No, it's not as simple as that. I just think the rumour makes a rather lazy association; along the lines of "Baba is a big west African and looks excessively-developed for his age, and we all know about those west Africans when it comes to corruption/dodgy dealings/dodgy birth certificates..." or a similar sort of thinking. That's just my suspicion and why I perceive it may be a case of casual racism.

Would a British-born player who appears to an eye otherwise ignorant of the facts to be "too big for his age" be subjected to the same allegation? I doubt it.

[osarusan]

No, it's not as simple as that. I just think the rumour makes a rather lazy association; along the lines of "Baba is a big west African and looks excessively-developed for his age, and we all know about those west Africans when it comes to corruption/dodgy dealings/dodgy birth certificates..." or a similar sort of thinking. That's just my suspicion and why I perceive it may be a case of casual racism.

Would a British-born player who appears to an eye otherwise ignorant of the facts to be "too big for his age" be subjected to the same allegation? I doubt it.

There's no evidence from the quote from Reddit that the poster knew anything about corruption/dodgy dealings/birth certificates, is there?

If a British-born player (or, for that matter, a white player from anywhere with a record of dodgy birth certs and corruption) was subjected to the same allegation, what predjudice would you suspect the poster of holding?

[DannyInvincible]

There's no evidence from the quote from Reddit that the poster knew anything about corruption/dodgy dealings/birth certificates, is there?

The poster did state Baba's "birth cert is dodgy as ****". Where would he get an idea like that, considering there's absolutely no evidence to suggest there is an issue with Baba's birth certificate? Possibly from a prejudiced opinion of descendants of west Africa? Maybe not, but it just looks like lazy speculation tinged with a very casual form of racism to me, primarily based on the reputation of west African administrative bodies.

If a British-born player (or, for that matter, a white player from anywhere with a record of dodgy birth certs and corruption) was subjected to the same allegation, what predjudice would you suspect the poster of holding?

I'm sure I'd find something!

In seriousness though, it's not likely a British-born player would be subjected to the same allegation, is it? Such a scenario is unlikely to ever arise as such prejudice would be extremely rare, if not non-existent, in the first place.

With regard to a white player from anywhere with a record of dodgy birth certificates and corruption, I may well suspect prejudice (of a xenophobic nature) if the defamatory accusation was plucked out of the poster's arse because his friends thought the player concerned looked "big for his age".

Just going along with the allegation for the sake of argument, I'm not sure when or how the birth certificate of Baba would have been falsified, but then I'm not in the know. If the birth certificate was indeed falsified, would it not have been long before the prospect of Baba becoming a professional footballer ever looked likely; say, before Baba's family even migrated in Ireland and Baba acquired Irish citizenship? What would have been the motive of his parents in procuring forged documents then? Are the FAI suspicious? Have they performed tests? What about the Irish government that issued Baba his citizenship? Were there doubts there? It's more likely that Baba's development/growth spurt is simply down to genetics, no?

[osarusan]

It's more likely that Baba's development/growth spurt is simply down to genetics, no?

Of course it is.

The poster did state Baba's "birth cert is dodgy as ****". Where would he get an idea like that, considering there's absolutely no evidence to suggest there is an issue with Baba's birth certificate? Possibly from a prejudiced opinion of descendants of west Africa? Maybe not, but it just looks like lazy speculation tinged with a very casual form of racism to me, primarily based on the reputation of west African administrative bodies.

Maybe the Reddit poster's friends are bitter at having been beaten by his team and are talking sh!t, or maybe they simply think Baba is just too big for his age, therefore his birthcert is dodgy.

[DannyInvincible]

Maybe, we can only speculate.

[paul_oshea]

He who speculates....

[Closed Account]

Let's be clear about this, Baba is no manchild. I'm 5'11'' and he's shorter than me. I watched him play for the Ireland U17s last year and he looked quite short for a center half out there.
He's succeeded because he's a natural footballer. His father I believe was very good also.

Here's a picture of him at 14 with similiar ages lads.

[paul_oshea]

Here's a picture of him at 14 with similiar ages lads.

Which one is he?

I see McShanes younger brother is on the right there, are we like the scots and have to pick the token Celtic Ging-er

[SkStu]

He who speculates....

...is rich like POSH...

Here's a picture of him at 14 with similiar ages lads.

he looks at least 15.

[BonnieShels]

Having never heard his name pronounced out loud is it "No" or "No-eh"?

[SkStu]

No-ay, i believe...

[Charlie Darwin]

Like Noah I think.

[DannyInvincible]

Here's a picture of him at 14 with similiar ages lads.

Already bald by 14?! No way he's that age.

[paul_oshea]

Racist.

[Irish_Praha]

Let's be clear about this, Baba is no manchild. I'm 5'11'' and he's shorter than me. I watched him play for the Ireland U17s last year and he looked quite short for a center half out there.
He's succeeded because he's a natural footballer. His father I believe was very good also.

Here's a picture of him at 14 with similiar ages lads.

Strange there were no protests about the guy in the back row at the far right; he looks at least 17