FIFA warns against age cheats in U17 World Cup

LAGOS, Aug. 11 -- The World soccer ruling body FIFA has restated

its stance against age cheats at the forthcoming U-17 World Cup to be held in

Nigeria, warning all participating members that the competition is not for

adult.

The warning came after the disqualification of 16 players of the current

Nigerian team who allegedly failed a recent Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

test conducted by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

According to Daily Independent, FIFA media officer Emmanuel Maradas told

reporters in Abuja shortly after the drawing ceremony on Friday that FIFA would

this time be strict on age, warning that no player above the stipulated age will

play the tournament.

According to him, the U-17 World Cup has for long witnessed serial abuse by

participants with over aged players slipping in to feature in the tournament.

FIFA said that it will resort to technology to ascertain the true ages of

the players.