Four members of Ghana’s squad for the Caf U-17 Africa Cup of Nations zonal qualifying tournament scheduled to kick off next weekend have been dropped after an independent age test.
The Black Starlets are set to compete for the one slot allotted Wafu Zone B in a Championship with six other countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Togo and hosts Niger.
But Ghana have been dealt a huge blow after recent Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests revealed that the team’s attacking trio Emmanuel Bio (Cheetah FC), Adams Saad (Still Believe FC) and Godwin Bentil (Attram De Visser Soccer Academy) were older than the required age limit.
“Yes, four players have been affected following the MRI tests we did – three of which are starters for the team,” said worried head coach Karim Zito.
“It is really a big loss but we are looking through our pool to find equal replacements before we leave for Niger on Wednesday (August 29).
“The latest results come from our second independent MRI scans because we do not want to reach Niger with our final squad and have players disqualified when Caf conduct their own. At that stage, we will not have the luxury for quick replacements,” he explained.
Ghana will begin their charge for the slot from Group A of the Wafu B Championship with Niger and Togo.
The Wafu B U-17 zonal tournament is scheduled for September 2-15, 2018. The winner joins seven others for the Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted by Tanzania later next year.
- SportsAfric
