Age Fraud scandal hits Cameroon as 32 U-17 footballers fail test and get disqualified

About 32 players from the Cameroon U-17 team have failed Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) screening aimed to verify their age.

The BBC reports that the test was mandated by Samuel Eto, the president of the Cameroonian FA. MRI screening is a scan of the players’ bone density to accurately ascertain their true age. After MRI tests, the majority of players selected for this year’s UNIFACC tournament were disqualified as they failed to clear them. The tests are used to determine a player’s age by scanning their wrists and measuring bone growth, the Daily Mail report stated.

Out of the initial squad of 30 players who camped in Mbankomo, Yaounde, 21 players failed that test. Another eleven players have also failed the scan done as recently as Tuesday.

Jean Pierre Fiala, the coach of the team, is faced with the dilemma of putting together a squad ahead of the upcoming Central African Football Federations’ Union (UNIFFAC) qualifiers for the 2023 CAF U-17 championship.

Cameroon is billed to host Congo, Chad, DR Congo, and Central African Republic between January 12 and 24 to determine which countries will represent the region in the age-grade competition scheduled for Algeria in April.

The development in Cameroon is not the first time African countries will have a chunk of players failing MRI tests. In 2016, 26 Nigerian players failed players the test ahead of a CAF under-17 championship qualifier against Niger Republic.