Kenya Players Over-Age - Munro

Mathare United chairman, Bob Munro yesterday raised doubts over the authenticity of some of the ages of the players in the national under-17 team, the team that kicked Ghana out of the u-17 world cup.

Munro's expose comes only weeks after Ghana had raised the same issue. They were eliminated by Kenya but are said to be pursuing the matter with the world soccer governing body, Fifa.

In a signed statement, Munro asked the Kenya Football Federation (KFF) to verify the ages of all the players in the team.

He said this was necessary in order to protect the country's honour and reputation and also avoid a possible Fifa ban just when the senior team, Harambee Stars are doing so well.

"KFF should verify the ages of all the players in the team as it's a serious offence to provide false information in a passport application," he said.

He gave an example of goalkeeper Francis Ochieng, who was quoted in a section of the media to be 16 years old. He questioned how Ochieng could have played for Harambee Sacco at 10 years and for Mumias Sugar in the Premier League 2000 when he was just 13 years old.

"Did KFF check it's records before approving the under-17 selection and passports?" he asked.

Mathare United are reported to have recalled back one of their players (name withheld), who was found to have been over-age but had been drafted in the under-17 team. The player claimed that under-17 officials had offered to falsify his documents to show that he was 17 years.

The team even returned to the Kenya Football Federation Sh2,000 training allowances, which the player had been paid.

Munro said it was unethical for a coach to cheat on his players' ages. He said most of the players in the team, and especially those from Premier League clubs were well over 17 years.

Kenya plays Ethiopia in Nairobi on February 15 needing a 3-0 margin to qualify for the May Africa finals in Mbabane.

Meanwhile, the juniors take on their Egyptian counterparts today in an international friendly match at Moi International Sports Centre (MISC), Kasarani.

The encounter scheduled to kick off at 10am will act as a build up for both teams as they prepare for the return leg of their Africa youth qualifiers.

Egypt are preparing to host Malawi while Kenya will be up against Ethiopia.