January 5 – Cameroon football has again been rocked by an age fraud scandal with 21 out of 30 Under-17 national team players disqualified after failing MRI tests ordered by the country’s FA (Fecafoot) chief Samuel Eto’o.
The former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker’s insistence on using age screening saw the squad ravaged at their training camp on the outskirt of Yaounde with coach Jean Pierre Fiala struggling to find replacements for upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifiers
Cameroon host Congo, Chad, DR Congo and Central African Republic for the Central African Football Federations’ Union (UNIFFAC) qualifiers January 12-24, with two teams progressing to April’s Under-17 Nations Cup in Algeria.
A Fecafoot statement said Eto’o gave “strict instructions” for the actions to be taken “in order to put an end to the tampering with civil status records which have, in the past, tarnished the image of Cameroon football.
“As part of the preparations for the UNIFFAC Limbe 2023 tournament, qualifying for the next African U17 Nations Championship, 21 players out of the 30 currently on training have failed at the outcome of the MRI tests.
“Fecafoot urges all actors, in particular educators, to ensure that the ages by category are respected.”
FIFA introduced MRI scans at the 2009 Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria. The scans work by measuring bone structure.
In 2017, Fecafoot blocked 14 players from taking part in the Under-17 Afcon in Gabon. Eto’o promised to combat the problem when he was elected president a year ago
Allegations of over-age players have been a long-running concern for African football, particularly at junior level. In 2019, Guinea were thrown out of the Under-17 World Cup after two of their players were found guilty of age-cheating.
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