Liberia’s sports minister Zeogar Wilson has blamed the country’s football association (LFA) for the disqualification of their men’s side from qualifiers for the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
The West Africans became the third country to be thrown out of a regional tournament for age cheating this week, after Djibouti and Sudan were expelled from East and Central African qualifiers.
Liberia were disqualified on Monday after two players failed a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, which was being used by the West African Football Union (WAFU) in line with Confederation of African Football (CAF) regulations.
“This is totally unacceptable to us. It has brought embarrassment to the country. Those responsible must be held accountable,” said Wilson.
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The minister has launched an inquiry into an issue which he said he has briefed President Weah upon.
MRI machines have been used to scan the wrists of players to accurately ascertain their true age, and were first used by world governing body FIFA at the U17 World Cup in Nigeria in 2009.
Article 27.4 of CAF’s U17 Nations Cup regulations states: “If after performing the age eligibility test (MRI) for a participating team and one player was found non-eligible, the participating team will be disqualified.”
Liberia’s expulsion meant that Sierra Leone and hosts Mauritania automatically reached the semi-final stage of the six-team WAFU Zone A tournament in Nouakchott.