AGE cheating is one of the well-documented topics in football on the African continent over the years and no affiliate of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has been spared from this unfair practice.
From time immemorial, players in Africa habituate themselves to age cheating and, despite the subject attracting controversy whenever it is brought to the fore, no one seems to bring the trend to a standstill.
Worse still, African footballers have come under intense scrutiny every time the issue comes up and it is astonishing that when players for youth teams are subjected to a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to determine their correct age before a particular tournament. Some countries have opted to withdraw some of their players, a clear indication that this trend is taking place under the nose of football officials.
Zambia, however, is no exception as this anomaly continues to haunt the country’s football with a number of players having falsified their birth details.
One does not need to carry out an MRI scan to ascertain that some of the players we have in the junior teams, who I cannot name, have exceeded the official age limits because their approach to the game, maturity and physical presence are not of a youngster.
Lewis Shambulo, who was part of the four-member strong Chipolopolo technical bench that was summoned to rebuild the national team in 1993 after Gabon Air disaster, believes age cheating is a cancer that has gone deep in the country’s football fraternity and could prove perilous if not addressed urgently.
“In Zambia, this trend has continued for a long time on the pretext of furthering one’s career knowing that the sport career has a short lifespan.”
“But slowly, age cheating is catching up with us and the players themselves and this is why we haven’t been doing well at national level because by the time a player is graduating to the senior team, they have already advanced in age,” Shambulo said.
It was always a great delight to see French great Zinedine Zidane play with full energy in him at 34 years while Germany international Per Mertesacker is still rocking the Asernal backline at 31 but astoundingly, former Nkana midfielder Sydney Kalume has gone under at only 28 years old.
Despite guiding the Kitwe giants to their 12th league title and playing at a high level in the CAF interclub championships, he could not attract foreign interests and remains unattached on the local front.
Undeniably, age catches up with people at some point in their career. Unfortunately, players tend to fade just at the point where normally, they would be hitting peak form.
Psychologically and technically, it is easier to shine when one is playing against those who may be five or six years younger but stagnation creeps and many players get stuck in a cycle where they quickly move around smaller and smaller clubs.
In 2014, striker Patson Daka, Enock Mwepu and Changwe Kalale were embroiled in the age cheating controversy after the Federation of Uganda Football Association (Fufa) lodged a complaint to CAF following their 2-0 defeat to Zambia in the Niger 2015 Africa Junior Championship final round first leg qualifier in Lusaka.
They claimed that the players in question were not eligible to play for the under-17 team because he was over aged but the Fufa lost the appeal after CAF ruled in Zambia’s favour.
Dutchman Nico Labohm who was appointed Chipolopolo assistant coach in 2014 to help then coach Honour Janza qualify the Chipolopolo to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Equatorial Guinea, also came face-to-face with the reality of age cheating in Zambia.
Shambulo, who is also Zambia Football Coaches Association (ZAFCA) vice president, recalls an unlikeable experience with Labohm during the Talent Identification Programme (TIP), “We were on a talent identification programme with Labohm to beef up the under-17 national team.”
“We identified a very good player with right attributes to play for the under-17 team, he presented his NRC that was showing indeed, he was below 17 years and eligible to be part of the team but when we went to his school to counter-check, it was discovered that he was well over 17 years which turned out to be the actual age.”
In as much as people would want to help a player prolong his career by falsifying the age, the practice does not help matters because the biological composition of our bodies cannot allow us to be vibrant at a certain age.
Therefore, we have to save our football from the effects of age cheating and in order to that, there is need to thoroughly scrutinise during registration at club level and ensure that the correct age for the players are captured at the academies or clubs.
The foreign legion that includes Emmanuel Mayuka 25, Mukuka Mulenga 22, Bornwell Mwape 24 and Ronald ‘Sate Sate’ Kampamba 21 are yet to make their presence felt at their respective clubs.
Having tasted the English Premier League with Southampton, Mayuka could not live upto to expectation despite being on paper within the age that can be conditioned to fit any football system, the lad failed and is now trying his lack at Egyptian side Zamalek.
South Africa is a destination where Zambian players have thrived but two seasons down the line, young Mukuka is yet to deliver his goodies in the PSL while Kampamba of Egyptian club Wadi Degla is on a one-year loan spell at the Belgium division two side Lierse SK remains.
“So I think we need to seriously look at this trend because eventually, it will be the country to lose out if we don’t correct this anomaly.”
“There a number of players in our local league, who were at the peak and foreign clubs expressed interest in them but as soon as they go abroad, they fail to perform because as a coach, it is difficult to condition someone who is old,” Shambulo said.
It is clear that Shambulo’s sentiments need serious consideration by stakeholders before it’s too late.
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