From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Aug 27 2009 - 10:04:59 EDT
Coach claims age cheating rampant in Cecafa U-17
By CHARLES NYENDEPosted Wednesday, August 26 2009 at 22:30
Kenya Under-17 football coach Rajab Babu on Wednesday alleged rampant
age cheating in the ongoing Cecafa Youth Championship in Sudan.
“It was very obvious to us that we were playing older players. It is
not hard to tell if a player is over 17 years of age and we saw that
at the tournament,” Babu said in Nairobi soon after the team returned
from their disastrous outing.
Kenya made a premature exit after losing all their three Group B
preliminary matches played in Juba – 3-1 against Zanzibar, 4-1 against
Uganda and 1-0 against Ethiopia.
“You cannot match a boy who is 16 years and one who is 25 years. If we
were playing with opposition of our age we would have won,” Babu said.
The poor performance by the team has elicited angry reactions from
football fans in the country, with many accusing Football Kenya
Limited of inept preparation and an inadequate selection process.
Trained for five days
The team only trained for five days before travelling to what turned
out to be a slaughter house in Sudan.
But Babu defended the team, saying it was the best Under-17 squad that
Kenya could assemble.
“With the exception of two players, this is the same team that played
in the Copa Cup in South Africa in June. We gave a good account of
ourselves and I can tell you I received several inquiries on my
players from interested clubs, which tells you the quality of the
team,” Babu said.
The Brazilian- and Dutch-trained coach said Cecafa needed to look at
ways to minimise age cheating and help in the development of youth
football in the region. Cecafa had Sudan’s original team replaced
after the players were found to be overage.
Rife in Africa
FKL football director Patrick Nagi said age cheating was rife in
Africa but that it would never happen in Kenya under his watch.