The ‘youngish’ man who plays for Shahdagh Qusar FK in Azerbaijan was accused by that country’s media for falsifying his age to reflect as 23 instead of a more plausible 40-something.
The accused, Victor Emenayo disagrees strongly, even producing an international passport to prove that he was born in 1993. He goes further to say ‘How can anybody claim or ascertain that I am not 23 years old merely by my looks? My passport says I was born in 1993 and no one can dispute that.’
He might have a point – nobody can dispute what his passport says. But let’s be real, this man is only 23?
He’s not the first athlete to be accused of age-falsification though. It’s a recurrent issue in Nigerian and African sports. Most of our players are said to be much older than the age they claim to be. 26 members of the U-17 team were dismissed from the team after an MRI scan revealed that they were older than 17.
If Emenayo’s age is dubious, how about Cameroon’s Joseph Minala? Two years ago, he insisted he was only 17. There’s no need for any scan or debate. This grandfather is NOT a 17-year-old!
No Fields Found.
