Mohammed Gargo (born 19 June 1975) is a Ghanaian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a defender.

Playing career

Club

Torino

Gargo's performances at the

1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the fourth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Florence, Montecatini Terme, Viareggio, Massa, Carrara, and Livorno in Italy between 16 and 31 August 1991. Players born after 1 August 1974 co ...

brought him to the notice of European clubs'

scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

. He had initially agreed to join

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

alongside fellow

Ghana national under-17 football team The Ghana national U-17 football team, known as the Black Starlets, is the youngest team that represents Ghana in football. They are two-time FIFA U-17 World Cup Champions in 1991 and 1995 and a two-time Runner-up in 1993 and 1 ...

member Sebastian Barnes. However Leverkusen withdrew from the Gargo transfer when it became evident that they could not compete financially with a much larger offer from

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. In October 1991 a payment of 100,000,000

Italian lira The lira ( , ; : lire, , ) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was introduced by the Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic), Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different s ...

to Gargo's parents secured his move to Turin, where he was joined by his national under-17 team colleagues

Samuel Kuffour Samuel Osei Kuffour (born 3 September 1976) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Known for his physical power, Kuffour is best remembered for his time with Bayern Munich, whom he represented for over a de ...

and Emmanuel Duah. Torino's president Gian Mauro Borsano planned fake employment for the three players as "messengers" in his construction company until they were 18 years old and eligible to be registered as professional footballers. The plan was controversial and the

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages a ...

(FIGC) refused to register the Ghanaian players as either amateurs or professionals. FIGC president Antonio Matarrese compared the situation to the

trafficking of children Trafficking of children, also known as child trafficking, is a form of human trafficking and is defined by the United Nations as the "recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or receipt of a child" for the purpose of slavery, forced labour, and s ...

. Although Gargo and his father emphasised that they were happy with the arrangements in Turin, the football authorities retained their opposition. An appeal by Torino and Gargo to

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...

(CAF) was thrown out in October 1992, by which time Kuffour and Duah had already left the club. CAF president

Issa Hayatou Issa Hayatou (9 August 1946 – 8 August 2024) was a Cameroonian sports executive, athlete, and football administrator best known for serving as the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) between 1988 and 2017. He served as th ...

was particularly hostile to Dominico Ricci, whose African Football Management agency had brokered the transfers. During the 1993–94 season, Gargo spent time at

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

, where his

cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

Ibrahim Tanko already played. He was restricted to the club's Amateure team in the

Oberliga Westfalen The Oberliga Westfalen is the highest level football league in the region of Westphalia, which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The league existed from 1978 to 2008, but was then replaced by the NRW-Liga, a new statewide league. W ...

, and when Dortmund tried to buy him outright Torino declined the transfer fee on offer. In November 1994

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), popularly nicknamed "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian former Association football, football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Football in Italy, Italian football ...

took Gargo to

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. He suffered the same fate he had at Dortmund and was unable to conclude a transfer. In May 1994 Gargo had appeared for Torino in a

non-competitive Non-competitive inhibition is a type of enzyme inhibition where the inhibitor reduces the activity of the enzyme and binds equally well to the enzyme regardless of whether it has already bound the substrate. This is unlike competitive inhibition, ...

game against rivals

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. The "Memorial Giorgio Calleri" fixture was staged in

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

and was marred by poor attendance and

hooliganism Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, often in connection with crowds at sporting events. A hooligan is a person that engages in illicit reckless behaviors and is a public nuisance. Etymology ...

. Gargo was subjected to racist chanting, while Torino supporters mocked the recent death of Andrea Fortunato. Gargo scored in a 2–2 draw before Torino lost the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. Despite his three years of inactivity, Gargo maintained ambitions of playing competitively for Torino. However he was not favoured by the club's incoming president Gianmarco Calleri.

Stoke City

Gargo joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

as a

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

trialist ahead of their 1995–96 campaign. After fielding him in a friendly match with

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

, Stoke's manager

Lou Macari Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenn ...

was impressed with Gargo's potential. However, Macari was less impressed with Gargo's poor attendance record and sudden unexplained departure, which took place shortly afterwards.

Udinese

Increasingly unhappy at his lack of competitive football, Gargo then joined Italian team

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

in October 1995. After a further year of inactivity, Gargo was allowed to register with Udinese before their 1996–97 season. He transferred to Udinese on a free transfer, on the expiry of his five-year contract with Torino. Real Tamale United remained entitled to a sell-on fee and Gargo gave his former club a

promissory note A promissory note, sometimes referred to as a note payable, is a legal instrument (more particularly, a financing instrument and a debt instrument), in which one party (the ''maker'' or ''issuer'') promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of ...

for $20,000 so they did not dispute his transfer to Udinese. In

Alberto Zaccheroni Alberto Zaccheroni (; born 1 April 1953) is an Italian former association football, football manager, formerly in charge of the United Arab Emirates national football team, United Arab Emirates and Japan national football team, Japan national fo ...

's progressive 3–4–3 formation, Gargo was usually deployed in defence, but was also capable of playing in midfield. The team performed above expectations although Gargo sustained an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

in a 4–0 defeat at

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

on 18 May 1997. With Udinese Gargo came to be recognised as a competent Serie A central defender, although troubled by frequent injuries. With his contract due to expire in 2001, he was linked with transfers to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

, and even an improbable return to Torino. In January 2003 he was loaned to

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and in January 2004 sold to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

along with

Vittorio Micolucci Vittorio Micolucci (born 14 August 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who last played as a defender. He made his Serie A debut on 14 January 2001 against S.S. Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club'') is an Italian professional ...

, in exchange for Rodrigue Boisfer and

Valon Behrami Valon Behrami (born 19 April 1985) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Despite starting his professional football career in Switzerland with FC Lugano, Behrami played mostly in Italy, though also played for two ...

, all in a co-ownership deal, which few years later accused for inflated price in order to create paper profit. Udinese and Genoa were already fined in June 2008 by FIGC and criminal charge were continued.

International

Gargo was a member of the men's national team that won the bronze medal at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a pop ...

, and gold in the

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In 2013 Gargo claimed that he had refused an approach to play for Ghana at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, the first time the nation had qualified, after being asked to pay a

bribe Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official duty, to act contrar ...

Coaching career

Gargo started after his retirement the job as coach in February 2010 by New Edubiase United. He trained the club of the Poly Tank Division One League until summer 2010. On 6 August 2010, he was named as the new manager of Poly Tank Division One League rival Real Tamale United. He coached the club RTU until November 2012 and resigned after the relegation from the

Ghana Premier League The Ghana Premier League is the top professional association football league in Ghana organized by the Ghana Football Association and formed in 1958 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition which ran from 1933 ...

his contract. Gargo was appointed manager of Ghana Premier League club BA United in March 2015, but was sacked after one match when he accused his players of betting against themselves. The following year a short spell in charge of

Okwawu United Okwawu United is a Ghanaian professional Football team, football club based in Nkawkaw, Eastern Region (Ghana), Eastern Region. They are competing in the Access Bank Ghana Plc, Access Bank Division One League, Ghana, Division One League. Their hom ...

ended when he fell out with his players again, this time accusing them of "sexually promiscuous acts" in the club house. In September 2018

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Tura Magic F.C. signed a contract with Gargo as their head coach.

Personal life

Gargo was born in the Burma Camp in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, where his father was a

Physical training instructor Physical training instructor (PTI) is a term used primarily in the British Armed Forces and British police, as well as some other Commonwealth countries, for an instructor in physical fitness. United Kingdom In the British Army, specialist Physi ...

in the

Ghana Army The Ghana Army is the principal land warfare force of Ghana. In 1959, two years after the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast became independent from the British Empire, the Ghana Regiment, Gold Coast Regiment was withdrawn from the Royal West ...

. The family hailed from Bawku, part of the Busanga tribe of Mandé ethnicity.

Honours

Udinese *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gargo, Mohammed 1975 births Living people Men's association football defenders Ghanaian men's footballers Ghana men's international footballers Ghana men's under-20 international footballers Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Ghana Olympic bronze medalists for Ghana 1992 African Cup of Nations players 1998 African Cup of Nations players 2000 African Cup of Nations players Torino FC players Borussia Dortmund II players FC Bayern Munich II players Stoke City F.C. players Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Udinese Calcio players Venezia FC players Genoa CFC players Al-Wakrah SC players Real Tamale United players Ashanti Gold S.C. players Serie A players Serie B players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Place of birth missing (living people) Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Qatar Stars League players Ghana Premier League players Real Tamale United managers Ghana Premier League managers New Edubiase United F.C. managers