Age fraud/cheating in soccer- the solution

We all have seen stories of age fraud or cheating across all major leagues of the world. This is in most cases, result in a player playing in a league that they are not supposed to play. Unfortunately age cheating has got serious reparations for both the player and the teams they play for. As I am writing this article, my country,Zimbabwe was disqualified from COSAFA Under 17 tournament in South Africa alongside Comoros, Eswatini and Botswana. The reasons for disqualifications are at appeal stage because of technicalities but I decided to focus on the age fraud as a menace that should be stopped at all cost.

If you are a parent and your child has got potential to excel in soccer, this post is for you. I really think that if parents or guidance show good direction, maybe just maybe this menace can be nipped in the bud.

What is age cheating/ fraud??

Age fraud/cheating refers the use of false documents on player registration in the hope of gaining advantage over opponents. In soccer all over the world this practice is rampant among st players belonging to nations where records are not easily verifiable.

There are a lot of reasons as to why there is age cheating/fraud from place to place. But all of reasons point to bad governance (including corruption), economic hardships and general collapse of moral values.

Some parents propagate age cheating by paying academies and corrupt coaches to win tournaments by all means- including fielding overage players. This they do to impress pro soccer scouts to enhance the children chances at selection for trials in major leagues.

How players are tested to verify age

Some media houses call this age eligibility test. Since 2009, FIFA has been using the advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Scans of the left wrist. Other countries like India at some point used the Tenner Whitehouse 111 (TW3).

Both methods are not fool proof. The problem with these tests include the methodology and the variance in the birth age and the bone age. The reason for using the left wrist is that in most populations, people are right-handed and prone to injuries on the right wrist. This clearly leaves out goalkeepers and left-handed players. Questions are also raised about diet because some people have better diets with high Calcium, Vitamin D more than others.

In the case of Zimbabwean players disqualified from COSAFA Cup in SA, the medical team had two sets of results showing that the players ages were of correct age from a reputable radiologist.

Effects of age cheating/fraud

I have not yet came across many positive effects of age cheating ever since I became interested in soccer affairs. Fraud only benefits selected for specific tournaments. Not long term player development. The aim for player development is to prepare the child for better leagues in the future. By using overage players and winning tournaments, that doesn’t make them good players. It only gets complicated when the same overage players are tested in leagues where conditions are very strict and fail the test.

There is a school of thought that has been written about overage players. It has been noted that in Africa, the teams dominate FIFA Youths tournaments. But when the same team is fielded on the FIFA World cup stage, they are only as good until the quarter-final stage.

To the younger players, they will be frustrated by not getting enough play time to show their talent. If they do get play time they won’t compete well with overage players in terms of strength and technical abilities thereby leading to frustration.

In some cases there are risks of injuries as the younger players are trying to modify their technique to compete with physically superior players. Cases of bullying can also arise whenever there is use of overage players.

When players and teams are caught in age cheating scandals, there is a lot of embarrassment to go with it. FIFA usually ban the team from tournaments for up to a year. This will also present a lost opportunity for the players because pro soccer scouts won’t be able to see the banned players in action.

More often than not, the individual player will be at a huge loss because no team in superior league will want to associate with someone with a bad name.

Possible ways to mitigate age cheating/fraud

It is very difficult for a parent deal with age cheating at directly at levels beyond their child`s academy, school or social soccer team. But I believe that it is imperative for parents to deal with the problem early in the child`s soccer carrier.

• Parents must not turn a blind eye on this menace and they too must teach their child about the bad effects of age fraud. Take serious steps to make sure that your child does not suffer because of greedy coaches and academies.
• Make sure that parents blacklists and not to sign up their child in academies and teams that field overage players.
• Join your child in academies under coaches who measure success by the number of pro players that they have developed to major leagues rather than concentrating on winning tournaments.
• Make sure that your child is assigned to a coach that priorities your child individual development as a soccer player.
• Take time to go and watch your child playing soccer at the academy or at school. Talk to the coach and child`s team-mates. This interaction will show you if your child is not getting frustrated.

At national level, FIFA must come up with stiffer penalties and remedies;

• Ban the player with false documents from competing in all forms of soccer.
• Ban the coaches who field overage players.
• Ban the team from competing at higher tournaments and impose a heavy fine to the club or country. Repeat offenders must be unregistered from association football altogether.
• With coming of new registration technologies, players must be registered with FIFA at early stage of their carrier at school or academy. Once a player is registered in the data base, no altering of documents shall be allowed. Whenever there is a tournament, the players file is verified before the player is allowed to play.

By playing clean, I am really confident that the menace is kicked out for the betterment of the world`s beautiful sport.

If you have a question or a comment please leave them in a comment box below so that I can get back to you.