Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets Coach Manu Garba has hailed the Confederation of African Football, CAF over the disqualification of Guinea for fielding over aged players during the just concluded Under-17 AFCON held in Tanzania.
Guinea eliminated Nigeria in the semifinal of the competition through penalty shootout, and Garba said the use of over aged players by Guinea prevented his team from getting to the finals of the Under-17 African Cup of Nations, AFCON.
Garba said that Guinea deserved the sanctions imposed on her, adding that it would serve as a deterrent to other countries. He explained that his team lost to an over aged side that should have been penalised earlier than now.
The Coach noted that the two players had used passports with the date of birth reading 2001 to play in an International tournament in Japan and changed the date to 2002 to be eligible to play in the U-17 tournament.
He
congratulated Senegal for emerging second in the competition after Guinea’s
disqualification, thereby qualifying for the World Cup.