European clubs not accepting African players above 23 years reason for age fraud – Ernest Obama
The spokesperson of the Cameroon Football Federation, Ernest Obama, has said the desire to play in Europe is one of the major factors behind age manipulation in Cameroon.
In an interview with French newspaper L’Equipe, Obama said a player who is not detected at a young age, is likely to modify their birthdate.
“For a player who was not detected early due to the absence of youth championships, he gets to the first division at 24, 25, 26 years, and that’s already too late for him” the former Vision 4 journalist highlighted.
He further indicated that the current FECAFOOT administration is engaged in an intensive verification of birth certificates of Cameroon footballers. “It was noticed after Samuel Eto’o arrived in 2021 that over 60 percent of players in the Elite One and Two had manipulated their ages” Ernest Obama noted.
Over 60 players were provisionally excluded from the 2024 Elite One playoffs and are awaiting the final verdict before the competition begins on March 16. The FA official indicated that guilty players will be automatically suspended for 6 matches and will be obliged to use their real ages.
