Age trafficking by footballers has become a cancer in Cameroonian football and the country's football federation (Fecafoot) says it has tarnished the image of the sport while affecting the development of young talents as well.
In a bid to combat the bane right at the grassroot level, they are the launching a new scientific age detection method on Monday at the Sawa Hotel in Douala. The machine x-rays the left wrist of the player to determine his bone age and compares it with the documented age.
The Fecafoot medical commission president Philémon Tamo, who coordinated the presentations, said the method could almost exactly detect the real age of a player, and that all Cameroonian players from the youth level would be subjected to the exercise henceforth.
The body said it would associate fingerprints data to the bone age and then classify players by age category to ensure accuracy.
“If players can change their names or ages, they will not be able to change their fingerprints," said Tombi A Roko Sidiki, Fecafoot’s secretary general.
The exercise debuts in the new season with the youth league, with the Fecafoot set to foot the bills worth approximately €90,000, officials said.