Former Ghana and Hearts of Oak midfielder Winful Cobbinah has been sentenced to four months in prison in Albania after being found guilty of ‘forgery of official documents’.
According to a Ghanasoccernet.com report, the playmaker was hit with the sentence at the Tirana court yesterday after he was found guilty of forging his residence permit.
However, there is big relief for the FK Tirana superstar as the judge commuted the sentence to 100 hours of community service because the midfielder was declared a person of exemplary conduct.
Cobbinah’s good conduct since his move to Albania means that the judge asked him to serve the community for 100 hours because ‘he is not a threat to the society’, the judge said.
Cobbinah was arrested by police authorities in Rinas with a forged residence permit which sparked his problems.
His problems came to light last month when the country’s President Meta granted him an Albania passport within a record eight hours to enable him qualify as an Albanian player.
Given that the Ghanaian has not spent five years in Albania, the decision by the President of the country – who is also an ardent supporter of KF Tirana – to hand citizenship to the Ghanaian speaks volumes of how he is rated in the country. –Ghanasoccernet.com
