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Why age cheating has to be dealt with decisively
Crack the whip: Fufa must come down hard on the issue of age cheating for the betterment of grassroots football. PHOTO BY Ismail Kezaala
Uganda’s under-17 football team is no stranger to the firestorm of support and condemnation. The team also known as the Cubs faced a reversal of fortunes that verged on tragedy back in 2010. It looked like a rare feat had been achieved with great distinction when the Cubs won a gripping arm wrestle against their Zambian counterparts 3-1 on aggregate.
It seemed no-one would do anything to disabuse the Cubs of their fantasies about playing at the 2011 Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations finals. Except someone actually did!
Whatever advantage Uganda gained was quickly lost when, using Ivan Ntege as a case study, anecdotal evidence was presented that proved overage players were used. African football governing body Caf promptly slapped a five-year ban on Uganda in the under-17 age grade.
It was a cruel disappointment for Ugandan football. Fufa officials reacted with consternation at the fact that a Ugandan had actually raised the red flag from which Zambia profited.
Dismissing the whistleblower as a saboteur, Fufa held that the ban would not only produce a great vacancy in Uganda but also leave the affected players emotionally scarred.
It was all doom and gloom at that time. The dark cloud that hovered rather menacingly above Uganda age grade football eight years ago gave way to one string of blue-sky weather last weekend.
The current upbeat mood owes its standing to a 3-1 win over Ethiopia that brought with it a ticket to next year’s Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations finals. Cubs players, however, had to push the limits of their performances during the qualifying event in Tanzania after losing their opening match — ironically at the hands of Ethiopia.
It looked like lightning was set to strike twice after MRI tests shorn Uganda of three players that were deemed overage. The Cubs, nevertheless, managed to steady the ship en route to authoring a landmark feat last weekend.
As observers continue to dissect how coach Peter Onen brings a dash of care and thoughtfulness to Cubs, the fact that three players failed MRI tests has come to be bafflingly obscure. It shouldn’t. What makes inexcusable the disregard of which we have seen so much is the fact that age cheating clogs the pipeline. Genuine underage players are denied a crack at international age grade football. This ultimately has a devastating domino effect of loss perpetuating loss.
The fact that three Ugandan players were red flagged is proof — if any was needed — that vestiges of an abiding flaw abound. Sadly, Fufa has continued sticking plaster to deal with a broken system by protesting the innocence of the age cheats.
There is no denying, though, that a win-at-all-costs streak has unleashed the very forces that age grade football has come to despise.
Winning is great, but it is vitally important that footballers learn at an elementary stage that the tenets of fairness matter a great deal. Don’t cheat!
WHAT WE KNOW
We now know that KCCA FC run its course in the 2018 Caf Champions League this past week.
The Kasasiro Boys had long been bundled out of African club football’s showpiece tournament before Tuesday’s 4-3 loss away to Al Ahly.
We know that the result in Cairo was significant in the sense that it ensured that Mike Mutebi’s side ended with more away goals (five) in the group stage than they mustered at home (three). Surprise, surprise!
We also know that what let KCCA FC down — and certainly denied them a quarterfinal berth — was a fact that they gave away so many goals on their travels — eight compared to just the one conceded at the Mandela National Stadium in Namboole.
