A much-expected three-day screening exercise for players eager to participate in the 2024 Ogun State Bet9ja U20 State League will commence on Wednesday at two venues and extend over the next 48 hours.
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Among the criteria that will be used in ascertaining the true ages and correct identities of players in each participating club will be birth certificates and National Identification Number (NIN).
This was disclosed by the chairman of Ogun State Football Association (OSFA), Alhaji Ganiyu Majekodunmi, who is also a member of the executive committee of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
He disclosed that the exercise will begin in Ijebu Ode and Sagamu on Wednesday, then extend to Ilaro on Thursday and be completed in the state capital, Abeokuta on Friday.
The opening day will be from 8am at Dipo Dina Stadium, Ijebu Ode, and 12pm at Gateway International Stadium, Sagamu; while attention shifts on Thursday to Gateway International Stadium, Ilaro at 10am, and the climax will be 9am on Friday at MKO Abiola International Stadium, Abeokuta.
Majekodunmi explained that the exercise is aimed at curtailing issues of age descrepancies of both male and female players in Nigerian football while also providing adequate databases that can be used over the years in the national league.
He hinted that there will be strict adherence to the exact ages of all players who turn up to register for the forthcoming competition, following which information collated by the organisers will be passed on to the secretariat of Nigeria’s third-tier Nationwide League One (NLO).
Majekodunmi added, “We are ready to start three days of screening for players that will participate in the Ogun State Under-20 Bet 9ja League.
“We want to make it easier for the NFF to have the correct database for all age-grade players in various clubs.
“It will also be a step towards getting the correct presentation of players ages for clubs in the NNL and NLO. We will pass the information on to the Nationwide League as our first step in ensuring the right ages of players appear in all the clubs.
“For now, we have 37 clubs altogether. We will also extend it to the female league next season.
“Our message is that age cheating must be discouraged in Nigerian football. We can’t do it 100 per cent, but we must start from somewhere.”
