Cameroon FA accuses Wilfried Douala, 61 other players of age fraud
Tuesday March 12 2024
Cameroon's players react after losing at the end of the Africa Cup of Nations 2024 round of 16 football match between Nigeria and Cameroon at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on January 27, 2024. PHOTO | AFP
Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) has temporarily suspended 62 players for age fraud, including Wilfried Nathan Douala, who was touted as the youngest player of 34th edition of Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
The players were listed for the play-offs of the country's top-flight championship, MTN Elite One which is scheduled to begin on Friday, but Fecafoot said they will not be part of the competition if they do not justify their double identities.
Players of 12 out of 16 clubs to participate in the play-offs are facing the age fraud allegations.
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Wilfried Nathan Douala who said he was 17, made the Cameroonian squad for Afcon in Cote d'Ivoire but barely got a chance to represent his national team. He was sidelined on the bench for all the games.
Accusations of age fraud constantly dog Cameroonian footballers and are even used to explain failures to replicate youth success at senior level.