Reversing the trend

Anyone who has read my blog in the past will know that I abhor age-cheating in football. The AFC, who initially used X-rays to determine the accurate age of players, and who now use the more reliable MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) tests, have sent a clear message to all Asian countries that age cheating will not be tolerated. They disqualified Korea, Tajikistan and Iraq from the 2008 AFC U-16 championships and then banned eight players during the 2010 event for trying to cheat the system. It looks like the bad old days of age cheating at international competitions has come to an end for the most part. In domestic football closer to home, it is still taking place as birth documentation is unreliable and often unavailable. It's difficult to know how to combat against this cheating at a local level.
Anyway, I was intrigued when Hok Sochetra, the Cambodian coach said that most of his players who got thumped by Timor Leste were under the age of 21 years old. Factually, that's a little skewed. The average age of the team that started the game against Timor was 22 years old. Five players were under 21. So then I looked into the ages of the whole Cambodian squad, which are provided by the official AFF Suzuki Cup website, with birthdates shown for all players. I cross-matched that against a document produced by the Cambodian League in 2009 (though I would add it's not stamped as official), which listed all players (and birthdates) for the ten Premier League teams at that time. The comparison left me somewhat dismayed in that nine players in the 20-man Cambodia squad appear to have managed to reverse the normal ageing process that occurs in humans. Their 2009 birthdates do not match their 2012 birthdates; their birthdates have been altered. Two of the players have actually managed to knock five years off their ages - I just wish I could do that. The nine players, whose birthdates have changed, are as follows: Sou Yaty (real age 23; current age 21), Um Vichet (19; 18), Khiev Vibol (22; 20), Touch Pancharong (25; 20), Chhun Sothearath (25; 22), Prak Mony Udom (20; 18), Tum Saray (22; 20), Phourng Soksana (22; 20) and Srey Udom (24; 19). The Suzuki Cup is not an age-level competition, so it doesn't matter in that respect. But surely, it's the principle that really matters. A lot of people couldn't give a toss about a player's age, it's what they do on the pitch that matters, and that's their view, but there are basic standards that need to be followed in any sport, especially football, and we appear to be making up our own.

End this practice

If you have read my blog before, you will know of my disgust at age-cheating in football, particularly in Asia. Make no bones about it (pun intended), it has been rife for many years in Southeast Asian football, both inside and outside of Cambodia. However, the Asian Football Confederation alongwith with FIFA have been instrumental in highlighting the need to ensure overage players are identified wherever possible and the cheating stopped. This is best achieved at the U-16 age-group level. The AFC Medical Committee chairman commented at a recent seminar: “With the introduction of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) for age determination at AFC U-16 tournaments, the fielding of overage players has virtually come to a halt. This was a chronic problem that went unabated for years marring the image of the sport. A general consensus of introducing 3-D imaging of the growth plate of the radial bone may also take the assessment to the next level, a procedure that never has been done before."
MRI for age determination is specific to U-16 tournaments and the process cannot be applied to other tournaments or female players. At the AFC level, MRI scanning is solely to determine whether the player is either above or below the age of 16 years based on the fusion of the growth plate of the radial bone of the wrist. Eight players were banned at the 2010 AFC U-16 finals after being exposed by the tests. The desire to stop any unfair advantage due to a greater physical maturity compared to players of the proper age must be adhered to by each country's football association before players are selected for tournaments. This has not been the case in the past. Passports and documentation have been adjusted to allow overage players to compete. This has got to stop and every country association must root out and end this practice.