Nine players have been kicked out of the African Under-17 Championship in Morocco after wrist scans showed them to be over the age limit.

Three players each from Congo-Brazzaville, Ivory Coast and Nigeria have been banned from playing any further part in the competition.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was used to scan the wrist plate of players to accurately ascertain their true age.

Birth certificates are often either inaccurate or unavailable.

The players to have been excluded are Congo's Cherlevy-Diabala Carim, Hardy Binguila and Bermagin Kangou, Ivory Coast's Dagou Britto, Abdul Diarrassouba and Siriki Dembele, and Nigeria's Onyinye Ndidi, Ibrahim Abdullahi and Emmanuel Asadu.

All three countries' squads have been reduced to 18 players.

After Congo and Ivory Coast played out a 1-1 draw in their opening match in the tournament, both coaches reacted to the loss of their players - each taking an opposing view of how their teams would be affected.

Congo coach Basile Ekariki said: "The absence of three players dropped after the MRI test does not affect us too much. The players are almost all from our national training centre and therefore used to play together. This is really a united group with lot of solidarity among all.

But Ivory Coast coach Ibrahim Kamara admitted: "There is no doubt that the failure of three players at MRI test is going to affect our side but we're here to build on our good run in this competition."

Football's world governing body, Fifa, first began researching the use of MRI technology in 2003 but only started to conduct tests at the U-19 World Cup in Nigeria.

Results from U-17 World Cups in 2003, 2005 and 2007 revealed that up to 35% of players were over-age.

http://bbc.co.uk/sport/football/22152016

I just hope that none of our first team players that trash ghana was affected.
Any idea?

After sending them back home, they should arrest the Nigeria official because there is no way in heaven and earth they would deny they dont know the real ages of these players. but come to think of it, our real U17 boiz cannot stand against U-17s elsewhere because they would be totally bullied to defeat.

If it is only 3 that failed then there is a huge improvement.

not again

Speechless , Cheating , normal way of doing things ? Sad 4 our continent

This happened over a week ago. The affected players have since left Morroco. They did not play against Ghana. I think the BBC or any of its reporters just pasting the story is up to no good.I suspect the story is from a Ghanaian reporter who hasnt come to terms that our cadets are better than theirs.

If they carry out the test again more will be caught, Africa loves cheating at age grade competitions.

no be new tin nahh no be new tin nahh

Ok,op d mri machine s nt faulty smh,gudluck 2 d und17

naija we too sharp jorr

none was affected except Emmanuel

AK 48: I just hope that none of our first team players that trash ghana was affected.
Any idea?

Naija..I just love dis country...**speechless**

AK 48: I just hope that none of our first team players that trash ghana was affected.
Any idea?

This is old news. The MRI test was done on friday before the tournament started on Saturday and those 3 three Nigeria players were sent home before the tournament started. They are not among the Nigeria players that trash noise making Ghanaians 6-1.

This is no news. It was before the tourney commenced. And affected players have long been sent packing even before the Ghana game.

i rep naija till death

ola_pluto: This happened over a week ago. The affected players have since left Morroco. They did not play against Ghana. I think the BBC or any of its reporters just pasting the story is up to no good.I suspect the story is from a Ghanaian reporter who hasnt come to terms that our cadets are better than theirs.

cusubaba: This is old news. The MRI test
was done on friday before the
tournament started on Saturday
and those 3 three Nigeria
players were send home before
the tournament started. They are not among the Nigeria
players that trash noise making
Ghanaians 6-1

thanks for shedding light on that for ignorant people

Abeg let them Play ball becos we dey beat ghana 6:1 If we lose nobody will talk abt age cheat

Oya na! R we sure its only 3 nigerians dat shld fail dat test? Make FIFA conduct dat test again Ooº°˚ ˚°ºoo

They should be prosecuted in Nigeria when they get home. To deter others.

GraceBestowed: LoooooooooL!!! This is not news to any of us, 'official age' is the order of the day!

Change this your so called american typewriter to naija writer because e dey pain our eyes seriously and it's not funny at all.

...thankGod for the MRS age test,this will enable us eliminate age cheats!am glad that atleast we watched our players within the under17 age limit devour their counterpart from Ghana!Ghanains are yet to come to terms with this reality,i watched Ghana Television yesterday and the sports analyst was trying to be mischievous,he said that he saw a Nigerian player who is bald and at 16yrs,he is wondering if that cld be genetic....Ghanians are bad losers!

redcliff: After sending them back home, they should arrest the Nigeria official because there is no way in heaven and earth they would deny they dont know the real ages of these players. but come to think of it, our real U17 boiz cannot stand against U-17s elsewhere because they would be totally bullied to defeat.

You can go to any court in nigeria where they'll official assign you any age you want! same way you can go to the police man and get a clean history even if you were alams!

Na waa oh. Nairaland!

You are reporting this story 5 DAYS LATE, as it happened BEFORE they encountered Ghana on Sunday.

What is this site turning into?
What sort of laziness is this?

Don't you know that two stories reported in the wrong sequence can also count as MISINFORMATION?

Those players were disqualified before Nigeria encountered Ghana on Sunday, so essentially, the ones that duked it out with Ghana were good to go.

But with you reporting these stories in the wrong order, it would give the impression that the ones who defeated Ghana were over-aged and only disqualified after the match, hence counting as misinformation.

Na waa. This site is fast sinking to the gutter.

Una for report this late story before the match, or never bothered reporting it at all.

If the MRI was 100% reliable, all the nigerian players would have been ineligible to play in the tournament. We all know they're all above 23.

good.good:
If the MRI was 100% reliable, all the nigerian players would have been ineligible to play in the tournament. We all know they're all above 23.

You are a great f-o-o-l!!