Ex-African international: I am 50, my son is 47 years old

A former African international has now admitted to age-cheating, revealing that although his "football age" is 50, he has a 47-year-old son.

Age-cheating unfortunately remains a scourge in football, and the African continent is widely viewed as a hotspot for age fraud. 

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Earlier this year, more than 60 players were unable to register for the latter part of the season in the Cameroon top flight due to administrative irregularities, mostly due to double identities and age-cheating.

The youngest player at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, 17-year-old Wilfried Nathan Douala, headlined that list, leading to media investigation.

After digging into the suspicions, a report by French outlet Le Monde would later allege that Douala's real name was Alexandre Bardelli and that he was more than 21 years old, with the publication stating that they had previously interviewed the player as Bardelli a few years earlier. 

That matter was laid to rest when Douala was eventually allowed to register for his club Victoria United, but the entire ordeal painted a grim picture of age-cheating on the continent.

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Now, a seemingly even more shocking story has emerged, with former Ghana international Kofi Ntow Gyan revealing that he never used his real age when he became a footballer, and that he is at least 10 years older than what he is known to be. 

In an interview with Ghanaian radio station Peace FM, per GhanaWeb, Ntow said: "Now, because of the issue of football age, I prefer not to mention my age so people won't know the real me because I have reduced my age by 10 to 15 years.

"The age I am currently using is 50, but my son, who is a first-born, is 47 years old.

"Just look at the; it is impossible for me to have done it.

"That is what I have used officially, so it is impossible to change it."

This is quite the admission by Gyan given that in June 2023, he called for Ghanaian players and administrators to avoid age fraud, highlighting that it hinders the development of football in the country, as per Citi Sports Online.

"Let us be honest with ourselves: age-cheating is not benefiting us as a footballing nation," said Gyan, who was the Ghana U15 coach at the time.

"We need to put an end to it, as that is the only way we can genuinely focus on football development and improve our game." 

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