adminJOHANNESBURG. — The South African Under-17 team (Amajimbos) have kicked off preparations for the 2015 African Youth Championship (AYC) qualifiers by undergoing procedural MRI scans.
Amajimbos will take on Tanzania on Friday, 18 July in the capital Dar es Salaam.
The players who have been invited to camp are undergoing the mandatory Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans (MRI) of the wrist — a process that determines one’s age group.
The tests were conducted yesterday with the training commencing today.
Writing in the October 2009 issue of Fifa World, Yacine Zergui, a member of the Fifa and Caf Medical Committees said:
“In the past, over-age players have been wrongly entered into various youth competitions, often benefiting from an unfair advantage due to their greater physical maturity compared to players of the proper age. Until now, the main way of checking a player’s age was to look at the date of birth stated in his or her passport — but this does not always solve the issue.
SA Under-17 fixtures:
Thursday, 3 July
Friendly vs Botswana (away)
Sunday, 6 July
Friendly vs Botswana (away)
Thursday, 10 July
Friendly vs Lesotho (away)
Sunday, 13 July
Friendly vs Lesotho (away)
Friday, 18 July
Qualifier, 1st Leg vs Tanzania (away)
Sat/Sun, 1/2 August
Qualifier, 2nd Leg vs Tanzania (home) — SuperSport
Online Reporter