Nigeria has until Monday to replace
more than half of the first team players after failing a mandatory MRI age test for the WAFU Zone B U-17 Championship.
“It’s a complete disaster!” Said a top official.
“First, we did not start the training camp in good time and as is often the case, the majority of the first-choice players have now been knocked out after they failed the MRI test,” added the official.
Nigeria, five-time world champions of the U17 FIFA World Cup will square off in Group B against Burkina Faso, Togo, and Niger Republic.
Nduka Ugbade led Nigeria to win the last edition of the sub-regional tournament only to fail to qualify for the U17 World Cup in Indonesia in 2023.
Age cheating has been one of the problems that the WAFU Zone and other sub-Saharan Africa have faced for quite a long time. In juvenile football, Nigeria has dominated the world for quite a long time simply because they always cheat when it comes to age.
Cameroon and Ghana have all been accused of age cheating in football.
The University of Ghana Sports Stadium is set to host the WAFU Zone B U-17 Championship from May 15th to May 29th 2024.
