Samuel Eto'o, President of the Cameroonian Football Federation, expressed his regret over the continued falsification of the age groups of his country's junior national team, and the resulting exclusion of more than 30 of them involved in the case.

A few days ago, the pillars of football in Cameroon were shaken by the scandal of falsifying the ages of the national team under the age of 17, and it is scheduled to participate in the "UNIFFAC" tournament that is held for young teams in central Africa.

And the British newspaper “Daily Mail” stated at the time that he had excluded 21 out of 30 players after they underwent medical examinations, and the results of them raised doubts about the information provided about their ages.

Later, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations proved that 11 additional players had faked their ages, and that their age was over 17 years old.

Samuel Eto'o has ordered Cameroon to disqualify 21 Under-17 players over age fraud concerns.

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— Jon Boafo (@JonBoafo) January 2, 2023

Eto'o broke his silence and commented on this scandal by saying, in statements highlighted by the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", "We will not allow Cameroon to fall, we need to put an end to the manipulation of the players' ages, which has historically destroyed the reputation of Cameroonian football."

The Under-17 "Untamed Lions" players underwent tests through which their age could be confirmed by scanning the wrist and measuring bone growth.

The results of the examinations revealed that only 9 players had identical age information, while the rest (21 players) forged their papers to summon 11 other players to strengthen the national team and enter a preparatory camp, but all players failed to be selected and were excluded.

This scandal will not prevent Cameroon from participating in the aforementioned tournament, but the local federation officials must send a new list.

The Cameroonian Football Federation issued an official statement on January 1, acknowledging the incident, pledging to punish those responsible.

"In preparation for the UNIFFAC Limbe 2023 Championship, which qualifies for the upcoming African Nations U-17 Championship, 21 out of 30 players currently training failed the results of MRI tests," the statement read.

Eto'o: We will not let Cameroon fall (French)

He added that "they were immediately excluded from the list and immediate procedures were initiated in order to summon others."

"This measure was taken as a result of the strict instructions issued by the president of the federation seeking to put an end to the manipulation of civil status records, which in the past tarnished the image of the High Commission of Cameroon," the statement said.

"The Cameroonian federation urges all actors and officials, in particular the coaches, to ensure respect for the ages according to the category," the statement concluded.

This crisis is the second in Cameroonian football during the past few months, as the local federation summoned 44 players representing 8 clubs last summer, and subjected them to investigation on charges of falsifying data.

The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) imposes heavy penalties against anyone found guilty of fraud, up to the ban from participating in its tournaments.

FIFA excluded Guinea from participating in the U-17 World Cup in 2019, after convicting the team of falsifying the ages of two players.