Dylan Bettencourt
The Ghanain women’s under-17 football team has been found guilty of playing over-age players during their 2022 Women U17 World Cup qualifiers.
This has resulted in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) imposing a ban on the side for the next two World Cups.
Ghana were also handed a massive R1.6 million fine.
The investigation stemmed from Morocco claiming that Ghana fielded two over-age players, which was found to be true. Morocco lost to Ghana in the qualifiers.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) said it would appeal the decision.
“We previously sent a written defence when this allegation started. As a body, we are strongly confident in the CAF’s appeals board to overturn this decision,” a top GFA official told BBC Sport Africa.
This is not the first time Ghana or their under-17 teams have been found guilty of age-cheating.
In 2014 the men’s side were banned from the 2015 U17 Africa Cup of Nations after fielding over-age players in a qualifier against Cameroon.
Cameroon are battling age-cheating allegations with 44 players from eight different teams being accused of age fraud.
The players that are currently being investigated have been found to be older than what their identification documents suggest.
Players that are found guilty during the hearing that concludes on Friday will be handed a six-month suspension.
Age-cheating has shown to be a common issue across Africa, so much so that Fifa implemented MRI scan tests first used in the U17 World Cup in Nigeria in 2009.
14 players were blocked from taking part in the U17 Africa Cup of Nations by the Cameroon Football Association after failing the scan.
Image source: @Goal
