Kanu is 42

[cymrococh]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/21/nigerian-football-age-old-problem

 

Nw***wo Kanu's official age is 33 but his real age is 42. Obafemi Martins is not 25 but 32. Jay-Jay Okocha was 10 years older than his "official" age throughout his career. And Taribo West, whose playing career ended only two years ago, is in his late fifties. Who says so? A stream of bloggers on some of Nigeria's most popular websites, in response to comments made after the country's timid effort in last month's Africa Cup of Nations.

 

Failure to win that trophy is nearly always considered a scandal in the continent's most populous nation but Nigeria's latest misadventure in the tournament triggered a particularly explosive condemnation back home.

 

It started when a former manager of a leading Nigerian club told the Lagos Guardian: "What happened in Angola is a confirmation of what has been happening in the past where most of our players falsified their age during competition. Most of the players are beyond the age they professed and this made it impossible for them to withstand the pace of teams like Zambia and Benin."

 

It also led to an entertaining discussion that shows no sign of abating as the Nigerians, who have three months to prepare for the World Cup, reacted to the criticism by sacking the coach. "Our boys are old, we are paying the price for age cheating," said Ken Anugweje, a former national team doctor and board member of the Nigerian Football Federation.

 

Suspicions about true ages of some Nigerian footballers date back 20 years. Fifa banned Nigeria from all international fixtures for two years after finding that the birth dates of three of their players in the 1988 Olympics were different from ones used by the same players in previous tournaments.

 

A year later Pelé famously declared "an African team will definitely win the World Cup by the turn of the century" after watching seemingly promising Nigerian youngsters lift the Under-17 World Cup and reach the final of the Under-20 competition. How was Pelé to know that the so-called Under-20s of 1989 were so old that, in the words of George Onmonya on nigeriavillagesquare.com, "most of our players have now retired and become grandpas"?

 

Nigeria have a rich tradition of seemingly promising youngsters who mysteriously fail to fulfil their potential. Phillip Osondu was the best player at the 1987 Under-17 World Cup, after which he was snapped up by Anderlecht, only to drift out of the game and into janitorial work after questions were raised about his real age.

 

The star of Nigeria's finalists at the 2001 Under-17 competition went on to become officially the third-youngest player to appear in the senior World Cup when he started the 0-0 draw with England in 2002. But that was as good as it got for Femi Opabunmi, who by 2005 was playing part-time football in the French lower leagues.

 

A trawl through the blogosphere makes for intriguing reading. "A friend of mine who once played in the Nigerian league told me his real age was 34 but his football age was 21," wrote Onmonya. "You can walk into any immigration office in Nigeria today, forge documents at the nearby business centre, change your name, place of birth, date of birth, pay 7,000-10,000 naira instead of the official price of about 5,500 for an international passport and within hours you have completed the whole process." A new passport, a new person – and if you are a footballer, a younger one.

 

A former employee of the British embassy in Nigeria told Observer Sport that when visa applicants complained to him about having their applications rejected, he would reply: "Well don't talk to me about it, I'm dead." He would respond to their looks of puzzlement by pointing to the wall behind him, on which hung his death certificate, purchased for a small fee from a Lagos supplier. Fifa reckon they have finally come up with a foolproof way of determining real age. Ahead of last year's Under-17 World Cup in, as it happened, Nigeria, the governing body announced that players would be subjected to wrist scans using magnetic resonance imaging, and this would determine their true age.

 

That led some countries to undertake precautionary scans beforehand. The results were never announced, but Nigeria suddenly discarded 15 squad members, while Gambia omitted 11 of the 18 who had helped them to victory in the African Under-17 championship a few months earlier. Reports claim that retrospective analyses of the previous three Under-17 World Cups showed more than a third of all players were too old.

[Smith]

Not really shocking news, is it.

[Raj]

Nothing new is it. Who hasn't lied about there age to get what they want

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

but - if you're good enough, you're old enough.

 

It's not that hard to reasonably determine someone's age - medically - if you really want to

[Bailo]

There's no way Taribo West is in his late 50's.

Edited February 22, 2010 by Jernau Morat Gurgeh

[Stevie H]

kanu is life, the universe and everything. him and his cubic head.

[matty]

Salif Diao is 62.

[Guy_Incognito]

but - if you're good enough, you're old enough.

 

It's not that hard to reasonably determine someone's age - medically - if you really want to

 

Cut them in half and count the rings?

[Murphman]

That's not just in Nigeria, it's common place in Ghana as well.

[The Hitman]

They're all the same,aren't they,Murph?

[Murphman]

They're all the same,aren't they,Murph?

 

 

They have natural rythym which makes them a great hit at the local discotheque I believe.

[Kahnee]

but - if you're good enough, you're old enough.

 

Gary Glitter tried that defence, but to no avail

[Falconhoof]

Just let them play however old they are, they play with a smile on their faces.

[Hassony]

Salif Diao is 62.

 

he is one day older than me, and I am not 62

[Maldini]

It's all racist bulls***. I'm sure there are some players who've subtracted a couple of years here and there but to suggest Okocha made his international debut aged 30 and played at the highest level until he was 45 is beyond moronic.

[Frosty Jack]

In 1998 when we signed Ringo, wasn't he supposed to be 23 or something? which would've made him 15 at Italia90, Cameroon captain at 19 at USA94. Watched Cameroon at the cup of nations and the chancer is still in the squad!

 

Titi Camara was about 38 when we signed him.

[Rory Fitzgerald]

In 1998 when we signed Ringo, wasn't he supposed to be 23 or something? which would've made him 15 at Italia90, Cameroon captain at 19 at USA94. Watched Cameroon at the cup of nations and the chancer is still in the squad!

 

Titi Camara was about 38 when we signed him.

 

Roger Milla was about 58 playing off an age of 38 during the 1990 World Cup

[Ramón Benítez Hernández]

Do they cut them in half and count the rings?

Edited February 23, 2010 by Grahimi LeBroy

[Frosty Jack]

at the censorship of Nw***o Kanu

[Spike]

It's all racist bulls***. I'm sure there are some players who've subtracted a couple of years here and there but to suggest Okocha made his international debut aged 30 and played at the highest level until he was 45 is beyond moronic.

 

How's it racist? Some nations don't hold accounts of births etc as accurately as others, football is a potentially lucrative godsend for families in these regions so they knock a few years off in order to appear to be talented above the general level for that actual age group.

 

It's commonplace in Africa that many people have their actual age and then a 'football' age.

[Hassony]

How's it racist? Some nations don't hold accounts of births etc as accurately as others, football is a potentially lucrative godsend for families in these regions so they knock a few years off in order to appear to be talented above the general level for that actual age group.

 

It's commonplace in Africa that many people have their actual age and then a 'football' age.

 

 

you're turning into Murph dude

[cymrococh]

How's it racist? Some nations don't hold accounts of births etc as accurately as others, football is a potentially lucrative godsend for families in these regions so they knock a few years off in order to appear to be talented above the general level for that actual age group.

 

It's commonplace in Africa that many people have their actual age and then a 'football' age.

Good old Africa, one of my favourite countries actually.

[Maldini]

In 1998 when we signed Ringo, wasn't he supposed to be 23 or something? which would've made him 15 at Italia90, Cameroon captain at 19 at USA94. Watched Cameroon at the cup of nations and the chancer is still in the squad!

 

Titi Camara was about 38 when we signed him.

 

21 when we signed him, he wasn't at Italia 90, was in the squad (aged 17 and not captain) for USA 94 though.

 

How's it racist? Some nations don't hold accounts of births etc as accurately as others, football is a potentially lucrative godsend for families in these regions so they knock a few years off in order to appear to be talented above the general level for that actual age group.

 

It's commonplace in Africa that many people have their actual age and then a 'football' age.

 

It's only African countries it ever comes up about though, and it's said about pretty much every African player out there. I think the question we should be asking is if it is true what are these lads taking that they can pass for 15/16 when they're in their mid-20s and then play for 10 years longer than the average footballer.