Players must be under the age of seventeen. The youth team is preparing for the qualification period of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament for under-17 players. According to the Cameroon Football Federation, over-aged players were immediately removed from the selection.
Personal data fraud is more common in Cameroon. In the past, this has also led to great doubts about the age of Cameroonian footballers. Also for this reason, the president of the Cameroon Football Federation has had further checks carried out on young players. For example, every player underwent an MRI.
Age tests most often prevented selections that were too old. In 2016, for example, fourteen of the forty “youngsters” called up failed the age test. Last year, the Cameroon Football Federation opened an investigation into 44 other players from eight different football clubs who allegedly committed age fraud.
President Samuel Eto’o promised upon his appointment as president of the football federation to put an end to the problems within the national federation. “It is time for football in Cameroon to rebuild itself,” said the former striker, who is the national team’s all-time top scorer with 56 goals.
