Soccer is a ruthless and unpredictable enterprise, the place aspiring gamers might see their careers in tatters at any flip – however few finish on this a lot scandal.
Elvis Hammond performed Premier League and Championship soccer for Fulham and Leicester Metropolis, however his promising profession got here crashing not resulting from a scarcity of expertise on the pitch, however what he did off it.
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It is estimated lower than 4 per cent of academy gamers make it to the highest stage, and even then professionals might be written off by coaches later down the road, or be compelled to retire resulting from damage.
In Hammond’s case, his life as an expert footballer led to a haze of medicine scandals and cash laundering.
Born in Accra, Ghana, Hammond was a product of the Fulham academy having moved to London at a younger age, finally making his first-team debut in 2000.
The striker made 13 appearances for the Cottagers, together with 11 within the Premier League, with out scoring a aim – spending most of his time on the membership gaining expertise on mortgage at Bristol Rovers, Norwich Metropolis, and Dutch facet RBC Roosendaal, the place he scored twice in 15 matches.
In 2005, he joined Leicester Metropolis, initially on mortgage earlier than making the transfer everlasting.
He performed for the Foxes till 2008, scoring eight targets in 58 appearances.
After leaving Leicester, Hammond continued his journey by way of a number of golf equipment up and down the English pyramid, together with Cheltenham City, Sutton United, Woking, Farnborough, and Eastbourne Borough.
He earned one worldwide cap for his nation, his sole look got here in a pleasant towards Mexico on March 1, 2006, a match performed in preparation for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Hammond didn’t rating any targets in his worldwide profession and appeared to finish his footballing profession at non-league facet Kingstonian in 2015, however his journey was something however free from controversy.
Hammond was given a six-month suspension after he was discovered to have taken cocaine in September 2003, throughout his mortgage spell at Carrow Street.
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This troubling info was unearthed in a Channel 4 Dispatches investigation in 2011, which additionally highlighted former Birmingham Metropolis striker Gary O’Connor’s optimistic take a look at for the drug throughout the 2009/10 season.
The programme uncovered an obvious cover-up involving each the membership and the FA, following former supervisor Alex McLeish’s claims that the striker was sidelined resulting from damage.
A secret doc disclosed a number of gamers had examined optimistic over the previous eight years – a type of names was Hammond.
However the controversy didn’t finish there as, in 2012, Hammond confronted a 12-month jail sentence for his involvement in a global cash laundering scheme.
He admitted guilt, alongside one other confederate, in illegally transferring £278,532 from Ghana.
This hefty sum was allegedly funneled right into a checking account belonging to H & W Enterprise Ltd, touted as a refund for a doomed property deal in Ghana.
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In response to police, the cash was frozen after it was taken from the account of a Ghanaian property growth firm.
A path of fraudulent paperwork later uncovered 4 unauthorised transfers totalling $1.27million to the UK and Cyprus.
In January 2010, shortly earlier than Hammond joined Woking FC, the duo have been charged and have been resulting from stand trial.
Nevertheless, the trial was suspended as Williams and Hammond offered sale contracts and plans exhibiting that Williams’ household had bought land in Ghana.
However detectives once more traveled to Ghana and obtained proof to show that the paperwork have been false.
Right now, Hammond’s present whereabouts are a thriller, suggesting he might have quietly stepped away from the world of soccer.
Regardless of a promising begin to a as soon as shiny profession, the shadows of his off-pitch transgressions finally proved to be a devastating value to pay.
