Each time there is a Sporting event, people come up with what I call a pre- event complaints and as soon as the event is over, we go to sleep.
Thus, it is not a thing of joy or surprise when a former National Tripple Jump Champion, Olu Sule cried out after last week Technical Committee meeting in Asaba which was called to thrash out the modalities to be adopted in the next Youth Games to be hosted by Delta.
The event, which has been fixed for the 9th to 18th, September, 2024 and on that basis of the alarm raised by Olu Sule, I will endeavour to do justice to it here.
When an athlete or a player submits false documents to aid his or her performance in an event, it is called age cheat. It is also called age fabrication. It is the use of false documentation to gain advantage over opponents and it is common mostly in African countries. We are living witnesses to the story of Philip Osondu, who performed beyond expectations in the U-17 World Cup only to discover that he was close to 30 years as at the time of the competition. The funny story had it that once the competition ended, Osondu was recruited by a foreign Club. However, he was placed on a special diet so that he could grow and may be play for the senior category. It turned out that the more they were feeding him, instead of growing, he was busy expanding on the ground.
Age fabrication allows an older athlete or player to enter youth competition, often benefitting from an unfair advantage due to their greater physical maturity compared to their real age. The National Youth Games is open to the U-15 athletes, but over the years, some States have been caught in the act of parading athletes above the category, thereby defeating the purpose of the competition.
The worst aspect is that, in some cases, athletes who were screened out often find a way back to the field to contest. Some athletes who were disqualified based on age in a State move to another State to compete and in the process, even win Gold medals.
Analysts have blamed this occurrence on our faulty educational system, poor parenting, and the get to the top quickly by Sports administrators. The truth is that age cheat has never helped the country in any way, rather, it has continued to impede our progress in international competitions. It has brought shame to States and to an extent the Nation. I remember a State whose football contigent was reduced from 25 to 7 and you can imagine the embarrassment.
In the debate that ensued during the week, some were of the opinion that those expecting to have an age cheat-free Youth Games may be embarking on a wild goose chase because it may not work in Nigeria for a number of reasons.
In my private chat with the Director-General of Delta State Sports Commission (DSSC), Festus Owhojero on their plan to reduce this menace destroying the fabric of our youth games, he revealed that aside from those screening the athletes, the Federal Ministry of Sports would be coming with psychogist to assist and anybody caught would be dealt with.
People will always tell you nothing is impossible in Nigeria and when it comes to crime, we are more devious than the Europeans. Do we now fold our hands and allow the sins to go on? The Bible says the wages of sin is death. Do we fold our hands and allow the Sports section to be destroyed totally?
The blame, no doubt, goes to the parents who having been influenced by Coaches or administrators go ahead to swear an affidavit claiming their child was born in a forest where there is no maternity. The question is how can parents not have birth certificate of a child delivered less than 15 years ago. Some approach census offices and immigration centres to change their date of birth. Footballers are the worst culprits in this crime.
In our age grade competitions, the Coaches often manoeuvre the age of their players with the administrators in the know. Thus, you have a player who is above 25 playing for U-17.
How can a player who started playing football 10 years ago at the professional level still be claiming he or she is less than 17? To a veteran journalist, Ben Efe, any child who is not in a secondary school should not be allowed into the Youth games. He further said the suspected students should tender results and necessary papers from junior Secondary school to Senior Secondary school. I am of the opinion that nobody with affidavit should be allowed to participate. Any child who is born in the last 15 years should have the birth certificate from a clinic or hospital.
In this world of improved technology, one can find out within few minutes any claim by an athlete.
To serve as a deterrent, various analysts have suggested that States who parade over aged athletes should be disqualified and be made to pay a hefty fine. I am of the view that such state should be made to pay a fine of N100m with a letter of undertaking to go and sin no more.
Apart from the State, the athletes involved should be sanctioned and starting from this Youth Games, the Ministry should descend heavily on States found wanting.
