Cameroon is hosting the Central African Football Federations’ Union(UNIFFAC) U-17 Afcon qualifiers and the president of the country’s football federation, Samuel Eto’o, has vowed to clamp down on age fraud. As a result, the Democratic Republic of Congo have been forced to pull out of a regional qualifying tournament for the 2023 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations after 25 out of 40 players failed mandatory age testing.
A statement by the Congolese football federation (FECOFA) said it was forced to withdraw after “only 15 were eligible and 25 failed of the 40 players submitted for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) testing.” However, of the 15 players who passed the age test, the statement also revealed “only five managed to complete the necessary administrative formalities” that would have allowed them to travel to Cameroon.
It is the latest age fraud scandal to hit the UNIFFAC qualifiers after 32 players from host nation Cameroon failed age tests ordered by Samuel Eto’o, president of the country’s governing body, FECAFOOT.
After a race against time, Ireport247 has gathered that Cameroon has found 30 replacement players who have all passed the MRI tests in Douala. But as the Indomitable Lions’ opening fixture in Limbe was supposed to be against DR Congo, they will not now be able to kick off the tournament on 12 January as scheduled.
Four countries – Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Chad and Central African Republic – will now take part in the qualifying competition, with UNIFFAC rescheduling fixtures between 12 and 24 January. Two teams will progress to April’s Under-17 Nations Cup finals in Algeria.
