Despite the fact that African football has been making steady progress in recent years, there appear to be some obstacles in the way. One of the continent’s issues is age cheating, especially among young people.
By selecting players older than the age limit in any youth tournament, many African nations have “crossed the boundaries” in one way or another. In point of fact, this has failed numerous African players who could have played longer but were unable to cheat nature.
It has been a problem for a number of nations, including Cameroon. However, Samuel Eto’o, a soccer great who now oversees the country’s football, appears determined to eliminate this bothersome.
On January 15, Cameroon beat the Republic of Congo 2-0 to secure its spot in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Under-17s tournament. However, the team that won that match was completely different from the one that was originally selected for the match.
According to BBC Sport, this is because 21 of the original 30 players were kicked out of the team for failing age eligibility tests following MRI scans to determine bone age.
Even worse, eleven of the drafted replacements failed their tests and were too old to play in the qualifiers.
The decision by Cameroon Football Association (FECAFOOT) President Eto’o to test players prior to the competition led to their expulsion.
Giovanni Wanneh, a journalist from Cameroon, told CNN Sports that the players involved would have attempted to conceal their ages because “these players rely on football and the majority of them come from poor families and backgrounds.”
“They want to lower their ages so they can play for longer and earn more money,” says the author.
On the other hand, Sir Alf Ramsey, the England manager who won only one World Cup in 1966, changed his birth date. The Morning Star claims that it was to secure him a professional contract as a player following World War II.
When Carlos Alberto of Brazil won the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, a competition for players under the age of 20, he was 25 years old.
The player, as reported by ESPN, admitted in a television interview that he had reduced his age because “it was a chance for him to make a living.” In fact, he claimed that he was hungry. The issue of a player’s age continues to be particularly prevalent in Cameroon and many other nations.
Famously, FIFA investigated former Newcastle United, Marseille, and DRC defender Chancel Mbemba for allegedly having four different birthdays.
He claimed in an interview with The Mirror that he took bone scans to determine his own age, but FIFA’s disciplinary committee ultimately determined that he was born on the day he claimed.
Due to the ages of their cup-winning teams, Ghana and Nigeria, which have won seven FIFA Under-17 World Cups between them, have come under scrutiny.
The teams’ youth success, which has not been replicated at the senior level of international soccer, is questioned by some observers.
Morocco and Tunisia’s fans made every game at Qatar 2022 feel like it was in Casablanca or Tunis. Even though they were outnumbered at every match, Ghanaians, Cameroonians, and Senegalese fans brought a color and noise that was unlike anything else at the tournament.
However, in contrast to their rivals in Europe and South America, the majority of African nations lack the talent pipelines and organizational structure necessary to nurture the many young players vying to become the next Sadio Mane or Mohamed Salah.
In Africa, where players are required to take risks that are few and far between in order to carve out a professional career, a sport that is typically praised for its meritocratic values frequently becomes a matter of luck.
Because of a lack of opportunity and social mobility, many young children and their families believe that playing soccer can help them get out of poverty.
Players are more likely to be exploited by coaches, administrators, agents, and even parents looking to capitalize on a child’s talent when they are in desperate need of help.
In a country like Cameroon, where a career in domestic soccer does not provide a dependable source of income, it is even more difficult. Eto’o, Cameroon’s FA President is currently attempting to change this by introducing a minimum wage for domestic league players.
There is a temptation to manipulate a player’s age, particularly to make them younger, in order to appear more appealing to the national team and clubs given the lack of opportunities for young players at home.
However, it is interesting to note that the majority of African administrators face the issue of record keeping, not only in soccer but also in society as a whole.
The issue of not having enough birth certificates has also been a significant problem. There are a lot of football players whose children do not have birth certificates.
Even though Cameroon and Malawi are beginning to use digital birth certificates, it is still difficult for football administrators in Africa to verify a player’s date of birth.
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The Confederation of African Football (CAF), the continent’s soccer governing body, has adopted MRI scans as a method for determining a player’s age. A player’s wrist is scanned by an MRI, and the growth plate is looked at and rated from one to six.
Grade six indicates that a player’s growth plate has fully fused to the bone, usually around the age of 18 or 19.
However, Thulani Ngwenya, who is a member of the CAF medical committee and was involved in the CAF’s implementation of MRI scans, explained that this MRI method is not an evaluation of an individual’s precise age.
However, CAF acknowledges that players over the age of 17 can still be considered eligible to play. The wrist growth plate development is different for girls, so the scan only works on boys.
Nevertheless, this MRI application serves as a way of determining a player’s eligibility and establishing a definitive line that can be enforced. The entire team is eliminated from a competition if one player fails the CAF eligibility test.
Countries like Cameroon can use FIFA Connect, a database where federations can register players with a unique FIFA ID code that serves as a digital passport, while also digitizing birth records.
Even though there isn’t a surefire way to check a player’s age when they register, once they are in the FIFA Connect system, their data can’t be changed, so federations like Cameroon and Malawi can keep track of every player in their ecosystems.
The days of “age cheating” appear to be over thanks to the widespread adoption of FIFA Connect, digital record keeping, and federation presidents like Eto’o.
