The Nigeria U17 team have been given a clean bill of health by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ahead of the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria.
Upon arrival for the tournament, the Nigerian team were made to undergo the mandatory Magnetic Imaging Resonance (MRI) test, which is one of the measures introduced by CAF to check the menace of age cheats in Africa youth football.
All the 26 players named by coach Nduka Ugabde scale through the grade limit with ease making them switch their focus to their opening game of the tournament against Zambia. It also means the threat of disqualification has been successfully put to rest.
Per the guidelines by CAF , if four or more players in a team fails the test, the entire team will be disqualified. A departure from the past practice where if a player fails it then his team will be disqualified.
The grade is pegged at six by CAF but the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) set it at four for the Nigerian team. That decision has paid off with the recent test in Algeria and all attention is now on securing a ticket to be at the U17 World Cup.
Mohammed Mowiz
