Cameroon has temporarily banned a player they brought to the Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations this year. The player is accused of providing false information regarding his name and birthdate, which could result in a potential ban for Cameroon from future tournaments.
On Monday, the Fecafoot, which is the Cameroon federation, announced the suspension of 62 players from the league due to administrative issues. These violations primarily involved having multiple identities and falsifying their age.
Before the January Cup of Nations finals, there was a lot of surprise surrounding Coach Rigobert Song’s decision to include 17-year-old Douala on the team. Douala, a relatively unknown player from the second division club Victoria United, had no prior experience playing for the national team.
A lot of discussion occurred on social media regarding the player’s age when images of him first appeared. A probe by the French newspaper Le Monde alleged that Douala had previously competed in the Cameroon league under the alias Alexandre Bardelli and was actually older than 21 years.
Le Monde said it had asked the Cameroon federation to explain the irregularity before they set off for the Ivory Coast but that Fecafoot had declined to comment. Douala did not play at the Cup of Nations but was a registered squad member.
According to the rules of the tournament, if a fraudulent or counterfeit act is discovered, the national association involved will be banned from participating in the next two editions of the Cup of Nations. Additionally, any mistakes made in registering players will result in the national association in question being suspended from competing in the next edition.
The Confederation of African Football has been reached out to for a response.
Source: theguardian.com
