32 age cheats discovered in Cameroon under-17 team after tests. Cameroon FA president Samuel Eto’o wants to weed out age cheats in the nation’s football.
Age fraud has been a menace in African football, with countries knowingly or unwittingly fielding overage players. There are cases of punishments dished out to erring countries for using players above the stipulated age in age-grade competitions. Despite the hard stance of FIFA on age cheats, malaise is still rife in Africa.
An example of a player falsifying documentation is that of international football defender Tobie Mimboe. The Cameroonian held several documents during his career that indicated he became younger as time went by.
In 1989 FIFA banned the youth teams of Nigeria for fielding over-age players in FIFA-organized youth tournaments. Three players at the 1988 Olympics had birth dates different from the ones they used at previous tourneys.
Samuel Eto, accused of falsifying his age during his playing career, wants to stamp the virus out of Cameroon football. The Barcelona legend has set the wheels in motion to clamp down on age cheats in Cameroon. Ahead of an under-17 competition in the region, Eto ordered MRI tests that have now claimed 32 casualties.
Tests in Cameroon weeds out 32 players from the under-17 team
There is chaos in the Cameroon under-17 team ahead of an upcoming international tournament.
Another batch of players have been found ineligible to feature for the team after failing tests to determine their ages. The situation has put Cameroon in a tight corner as it has become a massive assignment to find players that fall within the age bracket.
The latest batch brings to 32 the number of players who failed the test as Cameroon continues to be involved in an age fraud storm.
FA president Samuel Eto’o ordered the tests as he pushes to stamp out the virus of age fraud from Cameroonian football. Of the 30-man squad, 21 failed the test. 11 of their replacements were also unable to make the team.
According to BBC, the latest development has left the team in a tight situation as they try to build a team for the UNIFACC tournament, a competition for youth national sides from countries in the Central African Football Federations Union. It has left coach Jean Pierre Fiala struggling to put together a team for the tournament.
Eto’o wants to sanitize football in Cameroon
A statement from the FA stated Eto’o gave strict instructions for the tests to take place. They want to stop the tampering with civil status records that have brought nothing but an embarrassment to the country.
The statement continued that Fecafoot has urged all players in the industry, especially educators, to respect the ages by category.
The Cameroonian FA had invited 44 players from eight clubs to a hearing. The aim was to deal with the issue of age falsification. The hearing led to the latest round of scans that produced 32 failed tests.
It is not unusual to have allegations of over-age players in African teams, and it has marred the international success of African youth national teams in recent years. It includes Cameroon’s two under-17 Africa Cup of Nations triumphs in 2003 and 2019.
After failing MRI tests, Cameroon refused 14 players from representing the country at the 2017 under-17 AFCON. FIFA introduced MRI tests at the 2009 under-17 World Cup.
