The World soccer ruling body FIFA has restated its stance against age cheats at the forthcoming U-17 World Cup to be held in Nigeria, warning all participating members that the competition is not for adult.
The warning came after the disqualification of 16 players of the current Nigerian team who allegedly failed a recent Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test conducted by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
According to Daily Independent, FIFA media officer Emmanuel Maradas told reporters in Abuja shortly after the drawing ceremony on Friday that FIFA would this time be strict on age, warning that no player above the stipulated age will play the tournament.
According to him, the U-17 World Cup has for long witnessed serial abuse by participants with over aged players slipping in to feature in the tournament.
FIFA said that it will resort to technology to ascertain the true ages of the players.
(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2009)
