Ghanaian football legend Charles Taylor has urged local football authorities to implement rigorous age verification measures for young players, stressing that only genuine talent can flourish when age fraud is eliminated from the sport.
Taylor’s remarks follow the Black Satellites’ recent early exit from the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), a result that has reignited debates around player age manipulation in Ghanaian football.
In an interview with Accra-based Angel TV, the former Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko star candidly admitted that many youth players, including himself, competed in tournaments despite being older than the official age limits.
“If you pick players with genuine U15 ages, they cannot even kick a ball. Although we have such teams, I doubt the accuracy of their ages,” Taylor explained.
He added, “I also played for the national U17 team, but I was older than that age. Many players on that team were five or more years older.”
Taylor highlighted that for Ghana to develop world-class talents like Lamine Yamal — who emerged as a true teenage sensation — honesty in age reporting must be a priority.
“I was 20 years old while playing for the team, and nothing stopped me from playing. If we want to produce talents like Lamine Yamal, we should be honest with the ages of players,” he concluded.
