16 U23 Eagles Players Caught Up With Age Falsification

16 U23 Eagles Players Caught Up With Age Falsification

By Niyi Busari

Not fewer than 16 home based U23 Eagles players were caught to have been involved in age discrepancies, BSNSports.com.ng can report.

Nigeria U23 Eagles head coach, Salisu Yusuf invited 30 Nigeria Professional Football League players who resumed training in Abuja last Monday ahead of the CAF U23 African Nations Cup qualifier against Guinea.

The age falsification was discovered last weekend when the team's officials visited a department at the Nigeria Football Federation to cross check the age of the players. It was a rude shock when 16 out of the 30 invited players were discovered to have more than one birthday.

According to the source who spoke exclusively with BSN Sports but pleaded anonymity said the age scams were discovered when further checks were carried out on the Transfer Matching System, some of the players had different date of birth on their voters card, driver's licences.

The source confirms that only 14 players out of the 30 Nigeria Professional Football players scaled through the checks.

"When checks were carried out to know if none of them has issue with his age, we discovered that 16 players have either two or more birthdays they filled and submitted on different documents. He told BSN Sports.

“It is very unfortunate that many of the good players we identified in the NPFL teams could not meet up the criteria. It is very funny that in this technological age, our players still take certain things for granted.

“You will not believe that some players in the NPFL clubs, came here with passports that have different ages from what they have on the TMS.

“It is very embarrassing. I think our clubs should start paying more attention to the documents that players are filling out and submitting to them. This is very important because it will embarrass the country one of these days."

Nigeria U23 Eagles will host Guinea in the last round of the CAF U23 African Nations Cup qualifier at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja on 22nd March before the return leg few days later.

The overall winners will qualify for the CAF U23 African Nations Cup.