CAF to hold age-cheating test for Under-17 teams on Friday

CAF will conduct an MRI test on all participating teams on Friday ahead of the commencement of the African Junior Championships.

All eight teams that have qualified for the tournament being staged in Morocco will have to go through the mandatory test to ensure all players are of the required age of under 17 years.

The bone density of wrists of the players will be scanned to ensure an accuracy of at least within one percent under the age 18.

This will represent the margin of error for the tests so players don’t get unduly disqualified.

The practice was first introduced by the continental governing body at the 2011 tournament in Rwanda.

Eight Gambian players failed the inaugural test.

Last year, CAF directed all national associations to conduct the test ahead of the championship qualifiers.

Eighteen players from Nigeria and 10 from Ghana failed the test and were culled from their respective squads.

The Ghana U17 team is however confident all of its players will pass the test haven gone through a rigorous inhouse test of its own before the even the qualifiers began.

The 2013 African Junior Championships opens on Saturday afternoon with hosts Morocco taking on Gabon at the Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca, with Tunisia taking the pitch against debutants Botswana immediately after.