Two Zambia Under-17 national team players have come under the spotlight over their ages after being barred from playing at the just ended Cosafa Junior Championships in Namibia.
The duo’s official documents state that they are 11 and 14 years old forcing Faz not to feature them in the Cosafa Junior Championships held in Namibia from December 8-15.
Zesco United striker John Chingangu and Winford Academy midfielder Saulani Phiri are the two players in question.
Faz has disclosed that the players were not “dropped” due to anomalies in the ages but were left out due to a typographical error in their birth dates as stated in their passports.
Chingangu and Phiri featured prominently in the Zambia Under-17 teams two friendly matches against Malawi Under-17 last month.
The Zesco striker was on also on target with the equalizer in the Zambia Under-17’s second and final friendly match against their Malawian counterparts that ended 1-1 on November 25.
Come on, why cheat on age. How can a 11 year old be playing in Premier league…
# I think we have a problem, and a very big one for that matter. I mean Nyirenda is coach for Zesco, so how can this happen???? Strange but as usual we have just accept “That is just the way it is, things will never change” 2pack
How come the mistakes were only seen after they had traveled?
Couldnt the players themselves notice anything wrong with their passports.
And what about the officials, dont they check the players passports to ascertain their age.
This is so laughable and embarrasing!
Age cheating is rampant in African and Zed football.
How can 11 year old be playng professional Premier league football.
Most of our age teams comprises of players mostly 2-5 years older than the age limit. As long as this is the case, Zambia will never produce players worth talking about in European league in recent times. These players when attracted to the top teams are at their peak, which the scouts think is the potential and then they fail to improve on their peak assumed potential.