I read in the British press the other day about an age scandal involving members of the Ghanaian senior national team. Former Ghana Football Association chief Dr Nyaho Tamakloe suggested there were question marks about the ages of Scottish club Heart's Laryea Kingston, Chelsea's Michael Essien, Fulham's John Pantsil and fellow defender John Mensah of Sunderland. All four British-based players are hoping to be in the Ghana squad for the forthcoming World Cup in South Africa.
The ex-diplomat was not diplomatic when he implied that the four players are among the hundreds of Ghanaian stars who have been involved in age cheating which is now catching up on them. Dr Tamakloe made his attack in an interview with a local radio station Peace FM when asked about the growing number of injuries in the Ghana squad ahead of the World Cup.
“Essien is 1, Pantsil is 2, John Mensah is 3, and Laryea Kingston. Even if they say he is fit is a bit doubtful to me,” Tamakloe said.“So if you watch carefully we don’t have frontline players we can call players who can take us up. It’s a bit disturbing. What I personally have observed is that most of them are burnt out now.
“I remember when I was the FA boss I insisted that anyone that would have to be brought into the Black Stars and for that matter even the junior groups must be right. “We must make sure we bring people whose ages reflect would represent the exact tournament they are supposed to be playing in.”
Even though no single reader of this column can rightly claim that this is news to him,to those of us in the diaspora, it only brought shame and disgrace, coming from such a top official. I recall last year that the indefatigable barrister Adokiye Amesiemeka told it to the world that the captain of the Golden Eaglets had played under 17 for him at Sharks seven years previously and so is far far above the age limit. FIFA heard this, but could do nothing but query the timing, saying it was a calculated attempt to disruot the FIFA U17 World Cup being hosted by Nigeria then.
Even if Amesiemeka could be forgiven for raising the alarm at the time he did because he probably did not know that The young man was in the team until the tournament, Tamakloe has no justification at all to keep quiet till now before opening his big mouth. Get it right from me, I am not in any way in support of the falsification of age by players. We all know that this happens and that atleast 90% of all African players cut atleast 2 or 3 years from their real ages for any reason whatsoever.
In fact, I strongly believe that this is also prevalent in all third world countries, Brazil inclusive. If Kaka is truly as strong in the Lord as we hear he is, then I would want him to tell the world his real age. He may be playing with his real age, but many of his team mates are not. If also our own Evangelist Taribo West wants to really really believe him and his ministry, he should tell us the truth about his age. That is my opinion as I see things.
The only players I can vouch for their true ages are those born in the western world, where everything is documented from the day of one's birth till the day he dies. Players like Victor Anichebe and Nedum Onuoha that came over at a very tender age also fall into this category because when they come over as very young boys their parents had no reason to alter their ages then. For other players, they are caught in the web of life. In most third world countries, there is no proper documentation of births, deaths, etc. people are born at home, in maternities, in school, at church, anywhere and so nobody knows when any one was actually born.
Also, acquiring passports are as easy as ABC, as I know many players that have three to four different passports. My people leave talk. We are all guilty one way or the other. HE WHO HAS NO SINS LET HIM CAST THE FIRST STONE JARE!
Back to the Ghana incident, Dr. Tamakloe had all the time in the world not just to say what he saw, but to say it when it would have made sense and also do something about it when he was the FA chairman but he kept quiet. He cannot say he did not use any over aged players in the junior national team and even senior national team when he was the FA boss, so coming now to cry wolf is utter rubbish because he only wants to be relevant. Imagine how it would have been if he had spoken out when he was the FA boss. Even if something good may not have come out of it, atleast he would have been seen to be an honest man. Any attempts at honesty now is belated, and the timing is utterly wrong.
Why I am so aggrieved is because of the negative publicity it brings on those of us in the diaspora, especially those of us in the business of player management. Clubs will have reason to doubt the ages of the players we bring them now. The British press no dey take eye see such thing, and dem don highlight am as dem fit, but wetin we fit do? We march on, knowing that until they show tangible evidence [which neither Amesiemeka or Tamakloe could show], all they are saying is hearsay and inadmissible.
On the part of the players, the rest of them acted reasonably and shut up because we all know the truth, and silence they say is the best answer for a fool. But Laryea Kingston tried his best to defend himself by asking Dr. Tamakloe to show proof of what he had said. You see, my quarrel with African players is that they like to pack their money in a sack and chop alone instead of investing in things like management. Come to think of it, of all the four players mentioned, Kingston who plays in Scotland could be said to be the lowest earner so he probably did not have management. It must have been the management teams of the other three England based players that adviced them.
Such allegations you best leave them lying low, otherwise you will have to prove it yourself one way or the other. Kingston's action may lead to people in the British press to clamour for him to sue Dr. Tamakloe for defamation of Character. And one of the easiest defences in a defamation suit is justification or truth. It will be easier for DR. tamakloe to prove the truth of his statement than for the player to prove the falsity of it. Dr Tamakloe only needs to dig a little into the players past record to come up with facts that will be used in his defence. And depending on where the player choses to sue, the onus of prove may lie on him to prove that he is not over aged. My people how him wan take do that one naa?
[This article was first published before the World Cup for Sports Mail, a Lagos based Sports newspaper.]
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