HHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMM,

HHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMM,

Dear nairalander,
                           let me start by asking wot exactly d initiator both in Punch newspaper n nairaland's stand to gain from d whole issue, positive or negative. we shd be reminded dat dis world is bin govern by an INTEREST. what are we saying, do we know d over all meaning of what we are discussing? Are we saying dat d FIFA'S COMMITTEE dat conducted d said MRI TEST for 3 good times have skeleton in their cupboard? Or they are BRIBED? Or dat NFA are corrupt? Pls their is a serious need to carryout an investigation n come out in a way dat will teach other people lesson. Their is a need for FEDERAL MINISTRY OF SPORT and Its counterpart in INFORMATION to be very SENSITIVE to dis issue and bring d culpist to book.  Among d whole 32countries dat is participating in dis conpitition, which of the country are you reading dis online. Is dat our way of REBRANDING NIGERIA.  Pls wen are we going to stop pursuing dis Phd degree ( PULL HIM DOWN). Yoruba People says "KAKA KEKU MAJE SESE, AFI SAWADANU" If I no fit get am, den I waste am, YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

http://www.punchng.com

[size=16pt]Chukwudi is not U-17, Adokiye insists[/size]


A former Green Eagles star, Adokiye Amiesimaka, has insisted that Golden Eaglets captain Fortune Chukwudi is over the 17 year age limit for the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Chukwudi‘s date of birth is given as November 18, 1992 on the FIFA website, but Amiesimaka says the defender cannot be less than 25 years old.

The Nigeria Football Federation has maintained that its players are truly under-17, citing the Magnetic Resonance Imaging tests as proof of the boys‘ ages.

Amiesimaka said, “I‘m absolutely sure that this Fortune guy is at least 25. I groomed him seven years ago and he was one of the best players in my feeder team. The feeder team was like my baby and I knew Fortune quite well back then.

”The team had players who were between 18 and 20 and he told me then he was 18. We had no way of testing their ages, but we asked them about their education backgrounds and we made some checks to know if they were young.

”He even had a knee injury at a point and when he recovered he tried to register with Ocean Boys. He played for the Sharks feeder team in early 2003 against the Flying Eagles in a friendly. It was at the Liberation Stadium (Port Harcourt) and the Flying Eagles won 4-2. What more proof do they want that I know the guy very well? He told me he was 18 then and he can‘t be less than 25 now.”

Amiesimaka, who was the Chairman of Sharks back in 2002 and coached the feeder team, said Chukwudi was not the only player whose age was doubtful in the Eaglets.

He said, ”One of the other players, Olanrewaju Kayode, cannot also be under-17. He wanted to play for Sharks feeders in 2002 and he said he had finished secondary school back then. How then can he still be under-17? There might still be others but, as a lawyer, I don‘t want to speculate.”

Nigeria Football Federation officials have labelled Amiesimaka an unpatriotic person who might have a hidden agenda for his claims, but the ex-international insists that he loves his country and is not eyeing anybody‘s job.

He said, ”Patriotism is wanting the best for your country all the time and that‘s exactly what I want. We have the potential to be the best in this country and we cannot realise that potential by cheating.

”When I write, I don‘t just criticise, I also make suggestions on how things can be better. I served this country when I was young. I played for Nigeria when I was in the university and the law school and I always gave my best. How many of these guys can claim to be more patriotic?”

I am watching Arg vs Col at the moment.

Someone must be on drugs if they doubt this guys are not 16-17 year olds (at worst, in their teens for even the most unreasonable person). THEY LOOK IT!!!

Those supporting this kind of cheating in the name of patriotism should cover their faces in shame. This is developmental football, we do not have to win at all cost. Look at the burkina faso team, they look exactly like secondary school children.

Even if I get appollo, I go still know say this guy don pass 25 years.

This cheating is why we do not benefit from this competitions as a nation. Take the 2001 Eaglet team in TRINDAD AND TOBAGO, they beat every team enroute the final and won silver . We felt we saw players that could develop into super stars in that team, but what is the story today? Aside OPABUMI that made a brief entry into the super eagles team in korea 2002 (Thanks to Onigbinde Afenifere moves), we do not have a single member of that team playing in any top league in the world not to talk of SE?

Abeg make fifa hit us hard, then we go learn. There are abundant talents in our secondary schools if the coaches and NFF will be willing to work.

Those days we used to have standing YSFON teams from u-13 that served as pool for player selection in age grade comptetitions, these were actually young lads. What happened to all of that now?

seriously i am not surprised. i look at those boys when they are playing and i'm like "will someone in his right senses tell me that i'm older than all these boys" even in the under 17 cup 2 years ago when they said the Oseni guy was 15 i was shocked. he looked like he could be my uncle. even with the MRi scan i knew that naijans would do what they knew how to do best - cheat. sorry but we are so good at cheating. look at Egbedi - that guy looks like someone who should be a family man by now.

there are no lessons to be learnt here. In 1991, Nigeria was banned and we did not learn anything

we did not go to the last world cup and did not learn anything

so why does anyone think a FIFA ban will teach us any lessons

why is this topic still existing . . .

Adokiye is just a beef dog !

let him go ans step his acts up, no one cares about his ill-timed rants, let him report directly to the Presidency his observations, better still FIFA, instead of seeking cheap publicity !

how could he have coached his feeder team as Chairman of Sharks FC ?

We all know what happened when he was there at the helm of affairs at Sharks . . .

In Global Sports, a lot of behind the scenes politics go on . . .does anyone want to tell me that in the 1st instance if not for Jack Warner's deep love for Nigeria, we would not have been denied the hosting rights for this competition ?

If that had happened, some people will say YES, THATS WHAT WE DESERVE, HOW PATHETIC WE ARE IN THE PHD BUSINESS

Ben Johnson was caught at the 1988 Olympics for doping . . .

Carl Lewis after the so many campaigns against banned substances usage was found out after so many years to have been hypocritical about it, MEANWHILE AMERICAN AUTHORITIES ALWAYS PROTECT THEIR OWN ATHLETES . . .what of MARION JONES

A lot of things happen in Global sports that is as a result of the corruption that characterises THE HUMAN BEING . . .not necessarily about a country or race !

Gore/Bush Jnr elections were rigged in certain parts of America ? yes or no ? yet we make it look like all these problems are just Nigerian problems

We all keep blaming NFF at every slight thing . . .why not blame WAEC and JAMB for producing/procuring for our Universities/Polytechnics half-baked students that later become hal-baked graduates that later become OTONDOS in life ?

@Dr Kit, may your days be long.

We are a country of dishonest people, It`s no surprise we get dishonest and corrupt leaders. How can we justify cheating by claiming everyone cheats. The problem of Nigeria is your average Nigerian not the government. We the general public are the ones that get to the top and from the many post on this thread it`s obvious we are exactly the same as those lying, cheating and dishonest bastard leaders that rule us.

If Nigeria had more people like Chief Adokiye Amesiamaka, maybe the country would be a better place. I salute u chief, there is never a wrong time to be honest. Nigeria should be banned from the competition, I refuse to be a part of the lies and cheating as much as I love Nigeria and want the country to achieve great things.

What is all the fuss about. If the player says he is under 17 then so be it. Adokiye said that he looks oldest than his age. Well fifa thinks otherwise. Its possible to look older than one's age. I got into higher institution at the age of 14 and them i was weighing 85pounds and 5ft 8inches tall. So it's very possible the fellow is telling the truth. If Adokiye can prove his case, let him come out. Fifa used MRI test that proves the player is not overage.

@Dr Kitaun

All you are saying is not relevant here at all.
The issue here is that when you play a 26 yr old in a competition meant for U-17, you have denied a lot of younger Nigerian lads the opportunity to showcase their talents. When a player at his peak is officially 17 years, what benefit does the country get in the long run? NOthing.

I know a 17yr old nigerian may not be able to match his german counterpart in size, but for goodness sakes , playing a 25yr old player is way off.

Can anyone tell me the whereabouts of the "good players" of the 2001 eaglets that came second behind france? MAKE WE TALK TRUE ABEG.

Below is the full article which started it all ,

From http://www.punchng.com

Published 11/1/2009 3:00:00 AM

[size=16pt]Once again, we have let our children down (1)[/size]



IN the context of age-grade tournaments, especially the on-going FIFA U-17 World Cup that we are hosting, what is in the best interest of Nigeria? Believe me, as I sat down to write this piece last Friday, after our 2-1 victory over Argentina, I pondered this question for more than a moment. And it was not easy to decide that if we do not want to continue to fool ourselves that all is well, or that we are even making any reasonable effort to get our act together, then we must never sweep the accumulating dirt under the carpet. We must keep on reminding ourselves of its unhealthy presence until we are forced to take the bold step of sweeping it away.

You see, the team that is representing us in this tournament is a good one. In fact, so far, it is one of the outstanding teams. In our first match against Germany on October 24, it showed the courage and resilience that was, ironically, typically attributed to Germany. Since then, it has grown from strength to strength, beating Honduras and much-feared Argentina in quick succession. Team coach John Obuh has done a marvellous job in building a team for a global event in less than two months. Remember the Magnetic Resonance Imaging test that disqualified a greater percentage of players in our previous team as overage, thereby decimating that team?

I am optimistic that this team can go all the way and possibly win the cup a record fourth time, and in that case make Nigeria the first defending champion to clinch it. But to do so the team may need to be more efficient in front of goal. As I noted in a previous article, the secret is not to let the usually frenetic activity in the goal area make you lose focus and composure. Then, just before making contact with the ball, choose the spot in goal where you wish to send the ball. Critically, at the moment of impact, keep your eyes on the ball.

The fact that we are able to produce a team that can hold its own in such a short time shows what an unassailable status we can attain if only we will pay painstaking attention to detail over time to prepare our teams. I have always believed that we have comparative advantage that is probably embedded in anthropology and genetics to excel in sports. But what happens is that because of our complacence we only show the enormity of our potential without fully realising it, even in victory. We have consistently underutilised our capacity and so always underachieved.

We won the maiden edition of this tournament in China in 1985. We won again in Japan in 1993, and yet again in South Korea in 2007. Brazil is the only other country that has won it so many times. But do we feel fulfilled? No! How is it that after wearing the crown as world champion three times in an age-grade event, we are still not implementing a comprehensive youth development program? How, then, have we ‘‘excelled‘‘ in this category?

We all know the answer. Much as we have the potential to excel, we have preferred to cheat. And that is why even if we win again we still won‘t feel fulfilled. Neither will we get the respect that we crave from the rest of the world. Yes, we are still cheating. By our education system, all the players in our U-17 team should either still be in secondary school or just passing out. Of course, they may also be attached to professional teams as apprentices, as is done in other parts. But we have never fully tapped the synergy of the education and sports sectors to respectably unleash our might on the global stage.

I know as a matter of fact that our team is not Under-17. It is for this reason that I feel like a hypocrite to congratulate this team for its performance so far.

In 2002/2003, I was Chairman of Sharks of Port-Harcourt. I decided to have a feeder team of fresh school leavers not older than 20 years. As the feeder team concept was relatively new and because I had my ideas about how a team at that level should be handled, I also doubled as its coach. And we had remarkable results in that period. I am sure that fans in Rivers State still remember how we played friendly matches with teams with much older players all over the state and regularly won by wide margins.

One of my key players then is the current captain of our so-called U-17 team. By his own admission at that time, that is, seven years ago, he was 18 years old. Please do the arithmetic yourself. MRI test or not, his football history is common knowledge. If we are not utterly irresponsible how can he be eligible for this tournament when he is not less than 25 years old now? There is another player with very interesting facial features that has been likened to a top senior team player in Argentina. Well, let me just say that looks can be deceptive and leave it at that.

I really wonder whether the MRI test was done on each and every one of our players. If, indeed, a ‘‘thorough‘‘ exercise was conducted, then FIFA must review the procedure. For the avoidance of doubt, it is not only Nigeria that should be the focus of FIFA‘s attention, but every participating country in the tournament should also be carefully scrutinised.

This is a very serious matter and my stand on it should not be trivialised as ‘‘holier-than-thou‘‘‘. I am not looking at it only from a moral perspective. I only happen to know that our penchant for cutting corners is self-limiting and counter-productive in the long run. And in this regard, I have the support of none other than the Honourable Minister of Sports and Chairman of the NSC, Sani Ndanusa, himself.

I must admit that I like this guy, even though I do not recall ever meeting him. Listening to his comments on sports and reading his interesting column, ‘‘NIGERIA 2009: FROM THE MINISTER‘S DESK WITH Sani Ndanusa‘‘, in THE NATION, he comes across as unassuming and your regular next-door buddy that is aware of the ephemeral nature of his power and does not have a sense of grandeur about him. Even more importantly, he sounds like a minister who means well for sports and knows where the priority for sports development should be.

Last Thursday, in an article with the heading ‘For a greater tomorrow‘, he wrote, ‘‘I have always been an advocate of youth. When one fails to build bridges from one generation to another, the future of a sport is endangered in the long term. To secure the future of a sport, there should be a programme of succession between generations. There should be a regular supply of talents and a conscious effort to groom and graduate these talents from one phase to the other. Most importantly, there should be machinery in place to discover and hone budding talents. If the latter is neglected, the freshness of the supply reduces. If the supplies are not fresh, what is left is sour. Any nation that negates the importance of youth and freshness in sports, gambles with its future.‘‘

Now, one of the most important reasons for the introduction of age-grade competitions by FIFA is to stimulate the process of discovering and honing budding talents so that they can graduate to the next level as well groomed players to secure the future of football as a high quality entertainment sport. Ironically, by not having an honest official policy of strictly observing age limits in a tournament like this one, we are doing the exact opposite of what FIFA and the sports minister are saying. And the minister‘s further statement suggests that he is probably not accurately briefed on ‘‘the series of MRI scans on this team‘‘, as he put it. ‘‘I can confidently say we have a crop of genuinely U-17 players. By the time this vision runs its course, these boys would be around 26, 27 years. That is the peak of every footballer. If we have a generation of talented players who are like a family and attain their peak together, we can harbour hopes of ruling the world by 2018 or 2022 World Cup.‘‘

Unfortunately, this is mere wishful thinking, my dear honourable minister. Your team captain is already at his peak at ‘‘U-17‘‘ and in all probability so too are many of his teammates.

To be continued

From http://www.punchng.com


[size=16pt]Chukwudi is not U-17, Adokiye insists[/size]


A former Green Eagles star, Adokiye Amiesimaka, has insisted that Golden Eaglets captain Fortune Chukwudi is over the 17 year age limit for the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Chukwudi‘s date of birth is given as November 18, 1992 on the FIFA website, but Amiesimaka says the defender cannot be less than 25 years old.

The Nigeria Football Federation has maintained that its players are truly under-17, citing the Magnetic Resonance Imaging tests as proof of the boys‘ ages.

Amiesimaka said, “I‘m absolutely sure that this Fortune guy is at least 25. I groomed him seven years ago and he was one of the best players in my feeder team. The feeder team was like my baby and I knew Fortune quite well back then.

”The team had players who were between 18 and 20 and he told me then he was 18. We had no way of testing their ages, but we asked them about their education backgrounds and we made some checks to know if they were young.

”He even had a knee injury at a point and when he recovered he tried to register with Ocean Boys. He played for the Sharks feeder team in early 2003 against the Flying Eagles in a friendly. It was at the Liberation Stadium (Port Harcourt) and the Flying Eagles won 4-2. What more proof do they want that I know the guy very well? He told me he was 18 then and he can‘t be less than 25 now.”

Amiesimaka, who was the Chairman of Sharks back in 2002 and coached the feeder team, said Chukwudi was not the only player whose age was doubtful in the Eaglets.

He said, ”One of the other players, Olanrewaju Kayode, cannot also be under-17. He wanted to play for Sharks feeders in 2002 and he said he had finished secondary school back then. How then can he still be under-17? There might still be others but, as a lawyer, I don‘t want to speculate.”

Nigeria Football Federation officials have labelled Amiesimaka an unpatriotic person who might have a hidden agenda for his claims, but the ex-international insists that he loves his country and is not eyeing anybody‘s job.

He said, ”Patriotism is wanting the best for your country all the time and that‘s exactly what I want. We have the potential to be the best in this country and we cannot realise that potential by cheating.

”When I write, I don‘t just criticise, I also make suggestions on how things can be better. I served this country when I was young. I played for Nigeria when I was in the university and the law school and I always gave my best. How many of these guys can claim to be more patriotic?”

@Adokiye
Have u ever heard the saying: "Speak up now or forever remain silent. ."?
Time to have squealed's waaay gone and u didn't, now just stfu!!!

Next match pls.

Dr Kitaun, I personally do not think your arguement holds water. Let's look at them one by one.

Marion Jones:
She used drugs and broke many world records but at the end of the day, she was found out and disgraced!

Geroge Bush Elections:
Maybe it was rigged but who is suffering it now? George Bush took America through probably their worst 8 years in history (even Americans afirm this ) and now not just them but most part of the world are suffering it! Goto Iraq and Afghanistan to confirm.

I could go on and on. But then again, and so the whole world is cheating, should we join the band wagon?

The point is that if these boys are cheating, even if FIFA does not detect, we are the ones who will suffer it eventually. Are you surprised we are finding it difficult to qualify for the world cup? Or that we are still relying on players like KANU (who was U17 in 1993?)? Where is Celestine Babayaro, Anosike, Ibrahim Babangida or even from recent times, Opabunmi, Karimu Shuaibu, and all the players who represented us at the U21 championship in 2007? Players who should be in their prime now and helping us to qualify for the world cup.

Take a cue from players like Yobo who everyone acknowledged must be truly young when he represented us at NIgeria 99. Today he is still active. Where are his mates from that same championship? Aghahowa, Ikedia, Haruna Babangida, etc?

We must also note that as long as we continue to use overaged players, we are also denying the REAL U18 players who are abound everywhere in Nigeria (PEPSI academy, SHELL CUP competitions, Abebe in Shitta, Maracana on Lagos Island, etc). We are denying these ones the opportunity to represent the Nation and make names for themselves. We are also destroying the future just for immediate glory. This however is the sad tale of our Nation.

djmellowshe:

What is all the fuss about. If the player says he is under 17 then so be it. Adokiye said that he looks oldest than his age. Well fifa thinks otherwise. Its possible to look older than one's age. I got into higher institution at the age of 14 and them i was weighing 85pounds and 5ft 8inches tall. So it's very possible the fellow is telling the truth. If Adokiye can prove his case, let him come out. Fifa used MRI test that proves the player is not overage.

My brother leave nigerians, we can do anything to get money including age falsification so we will not allow it to be or you will see my father in the next U17 championship, i envy ur stat but believe me you will never have the stamina to play with 25yr old man.

Whatever problem nigerian football is facing today is as result of age fasification cos one thing is sure YOU CAN NEVER CHEAT NATURE, some of our 27-30yrs players are upto 40yrs.I will not name one of them who was in SS3 when i was in jss1 claiming 28 when am over 32.Adokie would have stop this young from participating from this competition by writing to NFF stating his facts, if ignored he can bring it to the public before now, what is doing now could be viewed as pursuing a personal agenda to the detriment of his country's image.NFF should focus on youth football development, we dont want to win U17 again by cheating but produce World footballer of the who played in U17 for the nation, just last two years nigeria won this competition and we are struggling to qualify for the World cup in South Africa where are those boys who went to olympic with siasia and the once that won the U17. Please let us rebrand our conscience so that this nation will be branded.

If that guy is U-17, then I'm still sucking my mama's breasts! *hisses*

@Proudly9ja & na_so

can u tell me a little about urself ?

can u tell me IF U CAN STAND UP TALL AND SAY IF UR PARENTS NOT CONTRIBUTED INTO THE COUNTRY BEING CORRUPT ?

IN DOING THIS REMEMBER IF THEY HAD EVER GIVEN A BRIBE THEN THEY HAD AIDED AND ABBETED CORRUPTION IN THE 1ST PLACE !!!

maybe some of u should know that one of the major reasons why the FG struck the amnesty deal was to ensure the militants dont get to disrupt the hosting of the event . . .do y'all think if we start making a noise about that and it makes front page headline, some funny militant group cant pull some dirty crap because of the cheap publicity like this of Adokiye ?

FFS the list of these players had been released a long time ago, Adokiye writes for Punch weekly, why did he take him so long to speak this hokum from his anus how sick !

can Adokiye ever boast that he didnt encourage age falsification as Chariman of Sharks ? even Odegbami can not say same of himself as Gateway FC boss then, neither can Adepoju claim such with 3SC now . . .so what the f*ck ?

The country is corrupt and the malaise is there for all to see ! FASHOLA is a product of a corrupt government but he is a functional government . . . .what does this tell u ? WE WILL GET IT RIGHT SOMEDAY ! but definitely not by mis-timed and misguided utterances . . .

@Others

why do some of u guys always talk out of ure anuses ? u all seem to want to deceive peeps here with a picture of how everything works perfect in the West ? oh how lost u all are ! some of ur folks looted the economy dry, placed these so-called corrupt officials in power as their Godfathers and some of u spoilt brats come here spilling bunkum preaching how SWEET and Romantic it is living over there

^^^^^^^^^
May be you need an interpreter to understand my post, but my guy that still does not call for snide comments about people's parents.

I will try not to respond to  your posts again, since it appears you need a bronchure to understand what a forum like this is primarily meant for,

but trust me I can make this thread dirtier if thats the path you want us to tread.

can he come out and tell us he played football for 9ja with his real age?many many of his collegues in europe stil played for years after he retired,what does that potray?

abeg help me ask am

we all know that adepoju,lawal and co of the darman miracle 89 world cup retired 10years ago but there collegues in europe(figo,rui costa,ricardo and co)just retired.

that's the open truth. You dey go too far. During Nig 99, players like Ronaldinho & Iker Casilas were there, where are the nigerian players? only Yobo is still active and not in the same form as the aforementioned.

Where is Opabunmi?

for those calling adokiye names, i weep for you. i weep for the country because we are all heading for football doom. any one defending chukwudi and his cohort and the NFF should know that in more ways than one, you are contributing to the moral decay in the country. we talk of rebranding, but how do we as a people continue to support that which is bad and immoral, evil and ugly?

I think you may have to read from page 1 of the thread, I can hardly see anybody saying the boy is under 17. Nearly everybody agrees that all the boys are not under 17. But the problem here is that Adokiye has his facts & evidence, why must he wait till this time? Why not before the tournament or immediately the list was released. he's receiving knock from majority because people believe he has another motive apart from revealing the truth.

Adokie also claims Olanrewaju Kayode is also overage.

Dow we have any U-17 in our team?

I doubt it.

Adokie would have stop this young from participating from this competition by writing to NFF stating his facts, if ignored he can bring it to the public before now, what is doing now could be viewed as pursuing a personal agenda to the detriment of his country's image.

Thank you. May God bless you

Hello house,
why is the ex nigerian international castigating the young man, he suppose to have come out with the facts and evidence to support his claim why now, he should live the young man alone, and face his own personal problem.
afterall, he has his own children, will he be happy if some body, champion such an evil and and eviable mission against his own children afterall he has done his own bid, he should leave the floor for the young ones.
He should stop saying rubish, i believe is an idle brain now which is the devil workshop, i wish the eaglet best of luck, let no one castigate them they need encouragement now.
One love naija.

Dr Kitaun,

I do not believe I threw any insult at you or yours in my post so I do not see any reason why you should bring my parents into this. I will overlook it now and assume it was a slip.

Back to the eaglets and Il like this to be my final post on this issue.

I have said in previous posts that I do not like Adokie's methods or timing. I believe he could have done this in a better way, however I do not subscribe to people calling him names and telling him to shut up. If we all shut up about issues destroying our country, how do we intend to move forward? If previous generations got it wrong should we continue to let things rot at the detriment of the future generation?

The whole world will be in South Africa next year and we are at the risk of not being there simply because we cheated in the past! Yet you want us to keep making this mistake? If you take a good look at Westerhof's team they were people who had been around for so many years. Stephen Keshi, Chidi Nwanu, Samson Siasia, Rashidi Yekini, Peter Rufai, Thompson Oliha, Sunday Oliseh, etc were players who had been playing for Nigeria for a long time. Infact some of them since the early 80s at various age grades. If they had tainted their ages for immediate gains we probably wouldn't have people to turn to to take us to the US mundial and also win the nations cup in Tunisia.

Anyways, we can continue to cheat whether diplomatically or not, it is us who will face the consequensies in future.

Why are Nigerians wicked, why are we always happy when people are not prospering and angry when people prosper. The self proclaimed green eagles ex star is saying that the captain is over age because he has seen him doing well. Our boys that represented us in Egypt 2009, were they not over age but he did not see them as over age because they did not perform well. Nigerians should wake up from their 'PULL HIM DOWN' syndrome that have eaten deep into our lives. It is rare to see people from other country criticising their own people. Look at Ghana that won just concluded under 20 world cup, do we say that all the players were under 20.
If these boys were not performing well now, no one would ve seen that Mr. Fortune is above 17, pls the so called ex star should go and sleep to regain his senses because he believed that the young boy was a never do well person but for whoever God chooses to bless He will bless. Go for Gold My brother You re Da Bomb. Yeye star

folem:

http://www.punchng.com

[size=16pt]Chickweed is not U-17, Adjoin insists[/size]


A former Green Eagles star, Adjoin Amiesim aka, has insisted that Golden Eaglets captain Fortune Chickweed is over the 17 year age limit for the ongoing FIFO U-17 World Cup.

Chickweed‘s date of birth is given as November 18, 1992 on the FIFIFOebsite, but AmAmiesim akaays the defender cannot be less than 25 years old.

The Nigeria Football Federation has maintained that its players are truly under-17, citing the Magnetic Resonance Imaging tests as proof of the boys‘ ages.

AmieAmiesim akad, “I‘m absolutely sure that this Fortune guy is at least 25. I groomed him seven years ago and he was one of the best players in my feeder team. The feeder team was like my baby and I knew Fortune quite well back then.

”The team had players who were between 18 and 20 and he told me then he was 18. We had no way of testing their ages, but we asked them about their education backgrounds and we made some checks to know if they were young.

”He even had a knee injury at a point and when he recovered he tried to register with Ocean Boys. He played for the Sharks feeder team in early 2003 against the Flying Eagles in a friendly. It was at the Liberation Stadium (Port Harcourt) and the Flying Eagles won 4-2. What more proof do they want that I know the guy very well? He told me he was 18 then and he can‘t be less than 25 now.”

Amiesimaka, who Amiesim akaairman of Sharks back in 2002 and coached the feeder team, said Chukwudi was notChickweedy player whose age was doubtful in the Eaglets.

He said, ”One of the other players, [b]Olanrewaju Kayode[FIFOt also be under-17. He wanted to play for Sharks feeders in 2002 and he said he had finished secondary school back then. How then can he still be under-17? There might still be others but, as a lawyer, I don‘t want to speculate.”

Nigeria Football Federation officials have labelled Amiesimaka an unpatrioAmiesim aka who might have a hidden agenda for his claims, but the ex-international insists that he loves his country and is not eyeing anybody‘s job.

He said, ”Patriotism is wanting the best for your country all the time and that‘s exactly what I want. We have the potential to be the best in this country and we cannot realise that potential by cheating.

”When I write, I don‘t just criticise, I also make suggestions on how things can be better. I served this country when I was young. I played for Nigeria when I was in the university and the law school and I always gave my best. How many of these guys can claim to be more patriotic?”

and evil doers critcizing you will be ashamed.criticizing

Why are Nigerians wicked, why are we always happy when people are not prospering and angry when people prosper. The self proclaimed green eagles ex star is saying that the captain is over age because he has seen him doing well. Our boys that represented us in Egypt 2009, were they not over age but he did not see them as over age because they did not perform well. Nigerians should wake up from their 'PULL HIM DOWN' syndrome that have eaten deep into our lives. It is rare to see people from other country criticising their own people. Look at Ghana that won just concluded under 20 world cup, do we say that all the players were under 20.
If these boys were not performing well now, no one would ve seen that Mr. Fortune is above 17, pls the so called ex star should go and sleep to regain his senses because he believed that the young boy was a never do well person but for whoever God chooses to bless He will bless. Go for Gold My brother You re Da Bomb. Yeye star

No be me born the guy sha,if MRI say the guy is u-17 who is adokie to say otherwise,why is he waking up now ,if he was made member of loc will he say this, two different people might have the same name,but the guy picture for NL suggest over 20sha,but the stress in nigeria can make somebody who is 16 to develope grey hairs or even look as old as a 25 yrs old man.No be lie i talk oh!

only chukwudi know if he is lieing,but the mri brought small sanity in the U-17,

buyaka !buyaka! for our boys, believe in naija sprit

the effectiveness of under age football teams is their abilities to perform at the senior level as they grow older.If a Nigerian is 25 years old and claims he is 17 years old, then he has reached his peak of his career by getting involved in a team that is not meant for people of his age. despite brazil and argentina exit from the under 17 competition we will still hear and see their players grow much stronger because they are still younger for now and has not reached their peak. I think FIFA should find a reliable way to eliminate age cheating in football. it is unfortunate that records/data keeping in Nigeria is nothing to write home about.

jmoore:

the effectiveness of under age football teams is their abilities to perform at the senior level as they grow older.If a Nigerian is 25 years old and claims he is 17 years old, then he has reached his peak of his career by getting involved in a team that is not meant for people of his age. despite brazil and argentina exit from the under 17 competition we will still hear and see their players grow much stronger because they are still younger for now and has not reached their peak. I think FIFA should find a reliable way to eliminate age cheating in football. it is unfortunate that records/data keeping in Nigeria is nothing to write home about.

You have just mentioned a critical problem that is the root of all weak internal controls in this country that allow corruption to reign free.

We do not keep records and when we do, we make sure that they are not accurate and prone to theft or loss or even mis-interpretation

It is a deliberate and willful act of wickedness, we are on the 4th National ID card scheme, Kano has more towns than Lagos and Bauchi is apparently more populated than Lagos, We live on wrong numbers and statistics which is why we keep failing time and time again

Adokie's timing is wrong, where was he when the team list was drawn?

Someone asked about Opabunmi (u17 2003), well in that same 2003 Sinama Pongolle was MVP, the fact that he is not a world best player today doesn't make him an age cheat. My point is there are many variables that determine the success of a footballer not just age. In this business many fail, so the chances for Nigeria is to create a large pool for talents to cover the margin of error.

Adokie said Fortune was in his feeder team 7 yrs ago, ok where are the other members of the feeder team? Are they world stars today? My thinking is judge a teacher by the quality of the students.

That brings me to my other point which is create an effective system for our league (u10, u12, 14, etc), this year has been a good year for the league, football is big business. Our young boys fail in Europe not because of their age but because of they compete with other kids who have gone through a better system of training, just kicking the ball on the streets of Mushin does not qualify you to be a great candidate for Man United feeder team. A tournament is totally different from a league. (Heard that from Jose Maurihno).

With effective use of investments each team should have such a system, each local government, state etc.