17-year-old Lazio player (who looks much older) quits social media after abuse

Joseph Minala, the 17-year-old who plays for Lazio, has now shut down his social media accounts following abuse over his age.

The internet was awash with pictures of the teenage midfielder with everyone staggered that he was just 17.

Well, sadly the uproar over Minala's birth date on his passport seems to have really got to the poor guy after he closed down his social media accounts.

The Cameroonian has now blocked photos on his Instagram account, deleted his Facebook profile and filtered out Twitter pictures of himself.

He did, however, tweet the following message, which has been translated."Envy is the weakness of man, and those with a poor soul hurt others when you are in Serie A. Love you! Forza Lazio."

He may only be 17, but it's already been a pretty controversial career for Minala who, some have rather harshly said, has looked to have aged a lot through it already.

"He had a difficult time growing up. If you talk to him you’ll realise he is in every way a 17-year-old lad," Diego Tavano told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Minala only joined the Italian giants back in December and has already had an awful lot to deal with. Hopefully now he can begin to make his mark on the field.

Lazio also released a separate statement confirming the paperwork on his birth is “absolutely legitimate” and registered with the football federation.“Lazio denounce this latest attempt from hostile figures to throw a sinister light on this club” and are prepared to take legal action to “protect the good name” of the club and its players," they said.

The original story, which came via Senego.net, might’ve originated in a French football comedy website desinfosdufoot and was taken out of context to appear genuine.

By Early Doors (original post by Yahoo Eurosport can be found here)