Ghana U17 coach Paa Kwesi Fabian has revealed that the country used players who were above the required age to lift the 1991 and 1995 Fifa U17 World Cups held in Italy and Ecuardo respectively.

The Black Starlets, under German coach Otto Pfister became only the first African country after Nigeria to lift the title thanks to Emmanuel Duah’s 77th minute strike to break the hearts of Spain in the 1991 final.

The West Africans failed to defend the title in the next edition but came back strongly to reclaim the title in 1995.

However, after the introduction of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Ghana have failed to make any meaningful impact in the competition, and was banned by Confederation of African Football (Caf) last year, after midfielder Isaac Twum failed several MRI tests.

“Sometimes people make comparisons [of my team to the previous squad] to the ones that won titles. In 1991, we won this title and also in 1995 but those days are quite different from now,” Fabian told Starr FM.

“This is because during those days, anybody can be paraded as an Under-17 player and they went to play and win the title.

“I wouldn't confirm that we cheated but it’s obvious that some of them were over 17 years. Last time, I heard Yaw Preko [who was part of the 1991 squad] on air saying that they were asked to change their ages and things like that. I heard him on air and it's not me who said it,” he added.

Fabien has selected a 40-man squad after his nationwide tour which will be reduced for the upcoming African Youth Championship qualifiers later in the year.




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