Sussex film director and '˜fake footballer' who fooled the world

Louis Myles tells an astonishing story in 'Kaiser'

It’s of his newly-released movie ‘Kaiser: The Greatest Footballer Never To Play Football’ – which tells an astonishing story.

A fake footballer cheated a living out of the game but never played in a professional match.

He convinced clubs like Botafogo and Flamengo to sign him, but hid his limited talent claiming he was injured or by frequently changing clubs.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Brazil were the most glamorous football team in the world. Players like Zico, Socrates, Romario and Ronaldo turned a team game into performance art.

But Brazil also had the greatest footballer never to have played the game. Carlos Henrique Raposo, known to all as Kaiser, grew up in Rio de Janeiro with one dream: to escape poverty by becoming a professional footballer.

He lacked the talent to do so by conventional means, so he constructed an elaborate alternate reality that enabled him to join some of the most iconic clubs in the world.

It was sporting fraud on an unprecedented scale. Kaiser was immune to embarrassment and afraid of nobody. He duped superstar players, managers and even the most dangerous gangsters in Brazil to achieve his goal of being a footballer – and to enjoy all the trappings of high society that went with it.

His scams and lies brought him so much notoriety that he was known as the King of Rio. It is only now, in this film, that the truth can begin to be told.

Louis, 35, grew up in Lewes and attended Southover Primary School and Lewes Old Grammar School. He later became a sports producer for the BBC, working on programmes including Match of the Day and Football Focus.

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker is reportedly tweeting the film up as a ‘must see’.

Louis and his father, Paul Myles, are avid fans of Brighton and Hove Albion and season ticket holders at The Amex Stadium.

‘Kaiser’ was three years in the making and the film will be screened at Depot Cinema at 5.30pm on Sunday, July 29, after which Louis will take part in a Question and Answer session.