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MONROVIA. — Liberia’s sports minister Zeogar Wilson has blamed the country’s football association (LFA) for the disqualification of their men’s side from qualifiers for the Under-17 African Cup of Nations. The West Africans became the third country to be thrown out of a regional tournament for age cheating this week, after Djibouti and Sudan were expelled from East and Central African qualifiers.
Liberia were disqualified on Monday after two players failed a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, which was being used by the West African Football Union (Wafu) in line with Confederation of African Football (CAF) regulations.
“This is totally unacceptable to us. It has brought embarrassment to the country. Those responsible must be held accountable,” said Wilson.
The minister has launched an inquiry into an issue which he says he has briefed President Weah upon.
MRI machines have been used to scan the wrists of players to accurately ascertain their true age, and were first used by world governing body FIFA at the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria in 2009.
Article 27.4 of CAF’s Under-17 Nations Cup regulations states: “If after performing the age eligibility test (MRI) for a participating team and one player was found non-eligible, the participating team will be disqualified.” Liberia’s expulsion meant that Sierra Leone and hosts Mauritania automatically reached the semi-final stage of the six-team Wafu Zone A tournament in Nouakchott.
The Under-17 Nations Cup finals, which will be held in Algeria next April, also serve as African qualifiers for next year’s Under-17 World Cup in Peru, with all the semi-finalists going through.
In response, LFA president Mustapha Raji said it had relied on players’ parents to confirm their children’s ages after an MRI test in Monrovia did not meet CAF’s eligibility requirements.
“The MRI scan at Jahmale (hospital in Paynesville) can only read up to 0.33 Tesla. The standard requirement of CAF is 1.5 Tesla,” said Raji. “So the due diligence conducted by the LFA was based on the confirmation from the parents of each and every player, who formed part of the delegation to Mauritania.
“We had explicit trust and confidence in the parents because we aren’t the ones that gave birth to them but we believed in the parents based on the information provided after a series of meetings.
“Unfortunately, science and technology proved that two of the players weren’t eligible to participate in the competition, thus resulting into the disqualification of Liberia.”
Footage seen by the BBC showed inconsolable players and members of the Liberia delegation when the news about their disqualification was announced in Mauritania. — BBC Sport Africa.
Online Reporter