by Oge Okonkwo
A scandal is threatening to shatter the reputation of the nation’s winning U-17 national team. There are reports that the winning team is composed of some over-aged players whose ages were deliberately understated.
According to reports, investigations were carried out on the goal keeper of the reigning champions, Golden Eaglets in the U-17 World Cup, Dele Alampasu.
It was gathered that, Dele Alampasu was already 20 years old when the U-17 championship was being played in the United Arab Emirate (UAE) in 2013.
Reports say:
The Sun newspaper of 19th January 2014 on its page 16 has a story titled: “Golden Eaglets goalkeeper, Dele Alampasu’s father, bids farewell to poverty; Me, Okada rider? Never again! He says.” The report authored by the authoritative Omololu Kassim written is suave silky skilful prose makes sweet reading.
Tomi, Alampasu’s father according to the report, “is fondly called Baba Dele in Itoki district, Ogun state, had lived a wretched life ever since he arrived there in 1993, the same year that Dele Alampasu was born. The jubilant father told this reporter that Dele was christened ‘Dokunanyan’ a name in Egun dialect which means tomorrow will be better for me.’
With this revelation, the truth has finally sneaked out of the bag. Our investigations revealed that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials were the ones who helped the player to doctor their ages.
Alampasu is not the only player whose age was doctored. We have concluded assertive investigations on five members of that team whose ages were all reduced to make them eligible to play in the championship. These we shall reveal to our reading public. Evidences including official government documents are available to substantiate our findings.
In this instance, Dele Alampasu who is well known in the Itoki area where he grew in the hands of neighbours who know him could not have mixed the facts about him. Or would Alampasu’s father not have remembered or know when his son was born.
The story which was done in its reality of strings of events in a natural environment carried the truth which the father gave innocently without being schooled about his son’s new age. This confirmed the cheating. The fact that several players in that team have doctored their ages makes it a deliberate official policy.
Naturally, Dele Alampasu is 21 years of age but by his FIFA records he is 17!
If it is true that the small breeze from the butterfly wings develops and grow to become a tornado then after these exposures, we shall proceed to FIFA with a formal demand for inquisition and possible withdrawal of the fraudulent trophy that the Nigeria Football Federation used these adults to win as kids and let the real kids earn their trophy.
Will i would not be surprised if he is. Nigeria has had over-age players in the past in three separate occasions. Also many of the other players and coaches from the U17 World Cup tournament and the u17 CAF tournament have accused the Nigerian team of having over the age players. Also the pure dominance the team had over the other players?? They crush the entire competition which was something not really ever seen. Pretty sketchy if you ask me.
But the accusations were from sore loser such as Mexican coach. Would he have made similar accusation if they had defeated Nigeria? The newer is No. So why would anybody listen to sore losers?
Mexican coach made no accusation. But why would you not hear the players and coaches that actually saw the players up close. Also ever wonder why Nigeria’s players have never actually have gone to other better leagues??
What on earth is this are you people trying to do to Nigeria’s image?
Nigerian Press are cats and at the very least, senseless. What in God’s name is this baseless publicity meant to achieve for the country and the individual players? Do they think all the other players from the other teams are necessarily 17? I can’t even believe this story is emanating from our own press not that I think it is even true. What will they gain from this? Do they think FIFA will shake their hands, give them money and say well done guys? Or do they think it will gain them popularity within the country or outside? Fools, it will be them digging their own graves because you don’t come in-between the only thing (football) that still holds Nigeria as a country together and think people will smile at you. Moreover, foreigners will think you are mad and wonder what kind of person you are. And please, all our local press men and women who have never left the shores of Nigeria and are trying to emulate the white in reporting “Black and White,” dont get it twisted, “Oyibo dey lie die.” Having said that, I know and acknowledge the fact that not all Nigerian press personnel are like these cats and that there are quite a number of our press men/women who would rather embrace “positive press” as a means of driving the nation forward internationally.