Age cheating tests for SA U17 team
South Africa’s Under-17 players will all have to be subjected to medical tests to establish whether they are the right age to compete in the upcoming African U17 Championship qualifiers.
All players must undergo Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of the bone density of their wrists, which Fifa have found are accurate to within one percent for boys aged under18.
In a bid to stamp out the rampant cheating at age group level, the Confederation of African Football has ordered all countries who have entered teams into the preliminaries to undergo the tests.
“The age eligibility test will be performed by medical services of your association according to Fifa protocol at an accredited facility,” CAF wrote to all the African associations.
Countries who do not have an MRI scanner might have take the entire team to the nearest facility to be tested before they are allowed to play.
The MRI test results and passports of the players must be sent to CAF by July 15.
“Players who do not take the test will not be eligible to take part in the tournament,” CAF added.
African football’s controlling body says they will also retest players from the eight sides who qualify for next year’s championships in Morocco.
South Africa’s under-17 team have a bye in the first round of the qualifiers and meet Zambia in the second round in October.
If they win that tie, Amajimbos will take on either Gambia or Ghana for a place at the tournament in Morocco.
