The Game Of Life
The Truth Can Be Very Deceptive.
In this ever-changing world, the truth can be very hard to find out even when it’s staring you in the face. Social media has got us all chasing dreams that are not altogether real
Chasing the elusive truth in football has been difficult. I take my U16 football team to play in London and its surrounding areas. We sometimes have to show identification for the players. It proves that they are the people we claim
But some players on this win-at-all-cost team, have beards, moustaches, and grey hair.
I mean the hair isn’t dyed.
Yet they are under 16. I asked the manager for the cards and ID. They were the best Photoshop IDs I have ever seen.
What am I to do?
Play the game against a team that is older than they claim. There’s a chance that my players will get hurt.
or call them liars. Punch them and leave with my players.
Okay, leave.
I left. I could not risk my players getting injured. I will let the league contact me for an explanation.
This I am afraid is youth football. But this happens everywhere. Newspapers call it “age fraud”. Many countries have faced sanctions for it.
In Asia,
The Football Federation has banned 24 players from its youth tournaments. Authorities have banned them over the years.
Europe
Belgium has had to tighten its rules for nationalizing players. This is because youth players use fake passports and birth certificates. They have been able to play in tournaments that are too old for.
Africa
Before major tournaments, teams now have to take an MRI test to determine the age of the players. In 2009, they introduced this rule. It has reduced the number of overage players in tournaments.
The Americas
Officials discovered that Carlos Alberto de Oliveira Júnior, a Brazilian youth player, had false documents that said he was born on 24th January 1983. The documents allowed him to play in the Under 20 World Cup which he won. He was in fact 25 years old when he played in the tournament, he was born on 24th January 1978. He was banned for a Year.
As you can see, youth football is being infected by cheaters. This is not just at my level or at your local fields. It’s all the way to the professional game.
I have submitted my match report to the league and I await their decision
What would you have done?
By LARO ✨✨
