False information: Cameroon’s football association bans 62 players for age fraud
Cameroon’s association president Samuel Eto’o wants to combat age fraud
© Omar Zoheiry / DPA
The Cameroon Football Association is taking action and has temporarily withdrawn 62 players. The accusation is: incorrect age information. Fraud of this kind is a problem in Cameroon as in many other African countries.
Cameroon’s Football Association (Fecafoot) has banned 62 players for age fraud. They are accused of making themselves look younger than they are. Among those suspended is Wilfried Nathan Douala, who was the youngest player to be called up to Cameroon’s national team for the Africa Cup. Douala is officially only 17 years old, but the association did not reveal how old he really is. The professional is no longer allowed to play for his Cameroonian club Victoria United for the time being. How long the bans will apply is unclear.
Cameroon, under association president Samuel Eto’o, the former FC Barcelona star, regularly takes action against players who cheat. The current suspension is the third of its kind. In the summer of 2022, Fecafoot summoned 44 players to a hearing. Six months later, the association finally banned 21 players from U17 teams.
Widespread problem in Cameroon and other countries
Age fraud in football is a problem in Cameroon as in many other African countries. Many young footballers are making themselves younger in order to have greater opportunities as talents to move to a European league with the prospect of earning a lot of money at some point. The young people (or children) often come from poor backgrounds and are easy prey for unscrupulous agents and officials. Fraud is relatively easy because identification documents and government information are often unreliable. Either the correct data is not recorded or cannot be checked due to a lack of digitization. That’s why national football associations use MRI carpal examinations, even if the method is not 100 percent error-free. How Fecafoot uncovered the age fraud is not known.
Sources: “t-online”, “Daily Mail”, “Deutsche Welle”
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2024-03-12 20:00:00
#Cameroons #football #association #bans #players #age #fraud
