Governing Bodies
Ghana to contest ban and $100,000 fine for age-cheating at Under-17 level
Ghana will appeal against a fine and ban imposed on its women’s Under-17 football team after being found guilty of age-cheating.
Last month Morocco edged past Ghana on penalties to qualify for the 2022 Women’s U17 World Cup but subsequently launched a protest about their opponents.
The North Africans claimed two players in the Black Maidens side were over-age.
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) investigated the claims and banned Ghana from the next two editions of Africa’s qualifying for the Women’s U17 World Cup and added a fine of $100,000.
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) said it will appeal in writing to Caf.
“We previously sent a written defence when this allegation started,” a top GFA official told BBC Sport Africa.
“As a body, we are strongly confident in the Caf’s appeals board to overturn this decision.”
It is not the first time that Ghana has been accused of age cheating at youth level.
Back in 2014, the men’s U17 side were banned from the 2015 U17 Africa Cup of Nations after being found guilty of age cheating in a qualifier against Cameroon, with the central Africans replacing Ghana at the tournament held in Niger.
Tackling age cheats in Cameroon
Meanwhile, a Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) ethics committee has begun hearings involving 44 players from eight different clubs who are accused of age and/or identity fraud.
Players from amateur clubs and a few from local leagues are being investigated, and several club presidents accused of complicity are also involved in the cases.
Fecafoot official Emeric Tegomo told the BBC that players found guilty at the hearings, which are scheduled to end on Friday, risk a six-month suspension.
The hearings are a rare effort in Africa to stop age-cheating or identity fraud, which has long been a major source of concern in the game across the continent.
Accusations of cheating are regularly made – and many of Africa’s international successes in junior tournaments have been clouded by allegations of use of over-age players – but methods have been introduced in an attempt to stop it.
World governing body Fifa began conducting MRI scans at the U17 World Cup in Nigeria in 2009, focusing on players’ wrists to calculate their ages.
In 2017 Fecafoot blocked 14 players from taking part in the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon after they failed MRI tests, which provide detailed images from inside the body.
Fecafoot president Samuel Eto’o, the former Cameroon, Barcelona and Inter Milan striker, promised reform of the game in the central African country when he was elected in December.
-BBC
World football governing body, FIFA, today clocks its 122nd anniversary, celebrating more than a century of overseeing and expanding the global game.
Founded on May 21, 1904, in Paris, France, FIFA began with just seven member associations — France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
From that modest beginning, the organisation has grown into the most influential sports governing body in the world, with 211 member associations spread across all continents.
Over the decades, FIFA has transformed football into a truly global phenomenon through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Club World Cup, youth tournaments, and developmental programmes aimed at growing the game worldwide.
The organisation has also witnessed remarkable milestones, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 13 teams in 1930 to 48 teams beginning from the 2026 edition to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
FIFA’s journey has equally reflected football’s growing influence beyond sport, with the game becoming a major tool for diplomacy, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and economic development across the world.
As FIFA celebrates 122 years of existence, attention is now focused on the future of the game, technological innovations, expanded competitions, women’s football growth, and the continued globalisation of football.
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UEFA has issued a lifetime ban to Petr Vlachovsky, a Czech women’s soccer coach who secretly filmed his players, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of whom was 17.
In a statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate allegations of potential misconduct.
“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.
FC Slovacko did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world soccer governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.
“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the well-being of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.
Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19s team.
RELATED STORY: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/04/08/outrage-as-male-coach-who-secretly-filmed-women-players-still-free-to-work-in-football/
-Reuters
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Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship playoff final after being found guilty of spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, the English Football League said on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough, who lost 2-1 to Southampton on aggregate in the semi, have been reinstated and will face Hull City on Saturday in what is dubbed the world’s richest soccer match.
Promotion to the Premier League, even with an immediate relegation, is estimated to be worth in the region of 200 million pounds ($268.10 million) over three seasons.
Southampton, who admitted the charges, were also found guilty of filming training sessions involving Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April during the regular season.
They have also been deducted four points from the start of next season in England’s second tier.
“An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs after the club admitted multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training,” the EFL said.
“Southampton admitted breaches of Regulations requiring Clubs to act with the utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.
“The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 play-offs and will proceed to the play-off final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.”
The EFL confirmed that Southampton could appeal against the decision and that “parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the statement said.
‘BORO CALLED FOR SOUTHAMPTON EXPULSION
Middlesbrough had called for Southampton’s expulsion after having a training session at their Rockliffe Park site filmed 48 hours ahead of the first leg of their playoff semi-final with Southampton which ended 0-0.
The north-east club said they welcomed the decision.
“We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,” the north Middlesbrough said in a statement.
“As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last season and were struggling in the early part of this campaign until a storming finish in which they went unbeaten in 19 league games to finish fourth and enter the playoffs.
The south-coast club are the first to fall foul of the Football League’s regulation 127 — brought in after Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County seven years ago, an offence for which they were fined 200,000 pounds.
-Reuters
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