The Problem With Signing African Players

[spurs61]

Just been told about this saga involving the barcodes (I rest my case) and Martins;

Newcastle United will demand Inter Milan drop their £10 million price for Obafemi Martins because of confusion over his age.
The Magpies are looking into reports from Nigeria that the wantaway striker is possibly SIX YEARS older than his official age of 21.

This mix-up came to light after claims Martins played alongside Toon defender Celestine Babayaro - who is 28 in 14 days - in the Nigerian youth set-up.

Even if Martins proves to be older than listed, the North East club are still interested - but not at Inter's valuation.

Ha, ha, could n't happen to a more shitty club.

There is a recent trend of this occuring in the African game, there was a guy playing for Bologna (Eriberto) a few seasons back who was playing on a false passport under a fake name and false age. Roger Milla did not age by a single year in between world cups and a number of people claim to have seen Kanu's real passport stating that he is at least five years older than belived. Which begs the question, has anyone seen Zokora's birth certificate and can they prove it's real?

[highlander]

its a bit of a shock that people could get away with fraudulant actions like that in this day and age. and now im starting to wonder about Zokora

[spurs61]

You've obviously not been to Africa then?! This is just run-of-the-mill stuff in comparison to some of the things that go on over there, especially in Nigeria from where Martins hails. You can hire a Government Minister for as little as $100 dollars a day. Want your own security guards? No problem, pay a General a nice backhander and you can have your pick of Nigeria's elite troops. Now that's capitalism!

[highlander]

no i havent been to africa. i am aware of the corruption involved in the government but i thought FIFA would be able to varify players ages, how hard can it be

[spurs61]

how hard can it be

Very hard if the coutry keeps no birth or death records and even if they do, a new birth certificate comes very cheap.

Shit, the first thing I ever did on African soil was to bribe the customs official!

[highlander]

fair play.

[Houdini logic]

I did query martins age! I was shocked when I saw he was 21, as he's been aboout a while and looks a damn site older

[spurs61]

He was allegedly 19 when he first broke into the Inter frist team, that was around 3-4 seasons ago. I have always thought that he looks too strong and too clever to be a young as he claimed.

[highlander]

the 1st on this thread also said about Kanu being older than claimed, he claims to be 30 so if he is really older than that i wonder how long he can keep going as he doesnt play like someone close to retirement

[Welsh Spur]

This kind of stuff is really bizarre.

[Indianspur]

I hope Ivory coast is the exception to the rule..and didnt Zokora come out of the world famous academy. Hopefully they had him training since he was a little boy and they watched him grow up and therefore not been able to lie about his age.

[spurs61]

the 1st on this thread also said about Kanu being older than claimed, he claims to be 30 so if he is really older than that i wonder how long he can keep going as he doesnt play like someone close to retirement

Yeah, that's the whole point. These guys are fitter and stronger than European players and have the physical attributes to play for a lot longer. African players also take a while to develop after being taken on by a European club, their tactical awareness is usually shocking as is their team work. Most of these guys are picked up by the clubs between the ages of 14 to 18 and at that age they are usually malnourished and require a few years of "bulking up" before they are ready for competitive European football. By the time they are ready for first team football it is usually 3-4 years down the line. Thus it makes sense to claim that the players are a few years younger than they are in order to prolong thier careers and to raise their market value. Most of these guys don't know when they were born anyway and those that do have birth certificates usually reflect the day that the registrar went to their town/village, this can be up to 18 months after the child is born. So whilst it seems very strange and illicit over here, it is just how things are done in Africa.

[whistler9027]

as spurs 61 says...corruption is rife at every level and in every area of african life..its just accepted as the norm.

Sport is no different...I coached in South Africa for a couple of years after leaving the Army as I have family there and it is one of the more admin wise nations in Africa and yet it is almost impossible to verify the ages of the non white or indian africans..especially those from the townships.

And as has been said for a price you can have any paper work you want.

It is no coincidence that the best fraudsters in london are Nigerian...

Chances are zokora is legit..but i wouldnt bet my house on it.

[spurs61]

as spurs 61 says...corruption is rife at every level and in every area of african life..its just accepted as the norm.

Sport is no different...I coached in South Africa for a couple of years after leaving the Army as I have family there and it is one of the more admin wise nations in Africa and yet it is almost impossible to verify the ages of the non white or indian africans..especially those from the townships.

And as has been said for a price you can have any paper work you want.

It is no coincidence that the best fraudsters in london are Nigerian...

Chances are zokora is legit..but i wouldnt bet my house on it.


Must have been interesting coaching in S.A? Where were you coaching?
So I guess you can verify my ascertation that the teenage African players have the same physical attributes of much younger European boys? Essentially a 16 year od African is the same as a 13 year old European?

[Chinaman]

Travelling to many 3rd World countries, it's a smart thing to stick a couple of dollar bills in your passport even if you have all documentation like visas as it would save you a lot of unnecessary problems when you're going through customs. I call it their Customs and Excise.

[spurs61]

Travelling to many 3rd World countries, it's a smart thing to stick a couple of dollar bills in your passport even if you have all documentation like visas as it would save you a lot of unnecessary problems when you're going through customs. I call it their Customs and Excise.

Nah, I tend to play dumb with them until they clearly state that they want a bribe. Then I ask for a receipt, you'd be amazed how many officials then decide to "waive the fine"! ;)

I also like to play the game "how many people will salute you" it's very funny and works really well on road blocks. Basically as you approach a road block, slow down a little bit but not enough to stop. Then as you see the whites of the solider's eyes snap a smart salute. The guards usually think you're a government official or equivilant and will snap to attention whilst saluting and wave you through. Not sure I'd try it in China though!

[TomMcLaren]

Never been to africa, but I remember a certain Roger Milla at Italia 90 - 36 was it?

[choda]

It would not surprise me at all if Kanu is thirty five. He went downhill quickly at scum, and it would beg the question of how that could that have happened at age 26 (as it was claimed back then).

Yes, I hope Zokora is not 30 now! But in fairness he looks and plays like his claimed age. He looks in as top a nick as a footballer you can be.

[whistler9027]

I was coaching in and around Durban...and then Cape town..My Uncle lives in Durban..has done for the last 40 years or so...many of the youngsters can be quite slight..but very very athletic abd skillful..depends on where they are from..however you can get some big lads at 13/14...the thing is that altho Britain has colonial history with parts of SA.. under apartheid it was obviously white sport that was supported by the govt..ie rugby and cricket..'soccer'was seen as a blacks game....to many afrikaaners it still is..but with the world cup in 2010 held there that hould help the development a little..the skill is there as in the rest of africa...

Places like ivory coast..snegal...ghana etc..have strong ties to france,belgium etc and the dutch also focus on former colonies more...their academies..develop the kids and build em up ready for their own domestic leagues...and cheaply..
Unfortunately most of our old colonies are cricket or rugby playing..

pity as we could tap a lot of young talent....im back in SA..next year..would be great if more english clubs looked to develop talent there..would save money to.

[Danishspurs]

We had a case in Denmark where the club found out that a African player claiming his age was 29 and had been a good player for the 5-6 years he had been in Denmark. But then went downhill when reaching an ages where you normally reach your peek, about 27 or so.

The club found out that he was 5 years older then he claimed. He got fired and I havn't heard of him since.

[RuFuS]

i thought FIFA would be able to varify players ages, how hard can it be

Chop off an appendage and count the rings ? ;)

[choda]

Super points there. Very interesting stuff.

If you look at the english clubs they are starting to do that now a bit. We've signed some young french lads, who are all of immigrant origin. And I believe we've also extensive scouts everywhere picking up the best youngsters from anywhere.

You're right though that it is a good idea to probably set up some kind of conveir belt for these untapped territories. Dictatorships with a love of football produce a lot of very good footballers as it is one of their only ways out.