Fecafoot to scientifically determine age of players
February 23, 2012
Cameroon's football federation, Fecafoot, is taking actions to put an end to age trafficking. Goal.com reports that this has become a major issue among the Cameroonian athletes, both giving the sport a bad name and making it tough for younger players in the national league.
The new strategy to ensure the correct age of players is recorded is to use scientific evaluations. A machine will take X-rays of each player's left wrist and determine the bone age. Once the test has been conducted, the player's fingerprint will be matched with the results to ensure they cannot try to alter their age later on.
"If players can change their names or ages, they will not be able to change their fingerprints," Fecafoot's secretary general Tombii A Roko Sidiki told Goal.
As with many scientific methods, this has a margin of error, but Dr. Tamo, a member of the federation's medical commission, claims the margin will not be large enough to alter the players' age results significantly, according to SuperSport.com. The federation will also have a more accurate, albeit more expensive, test for those who contest the results of the first examination.
Football fans can make calls to Cameroon to discuss the implications of Fecafoot's new plan to curb age trafficking.