South African footballing authorities will be pleased to hear that Fifa has begun tests that may ultimately end age-cheating in youth tournaments. Fran Hilton-Smith recently disclosed that Safa had lost a protest with the World football governing body following a 5-0 loss to Nigeria’s girls’ Under-17 team in their homeland. Bantwana officials said they had recognised some of the Nigerian girls as having played in matches at Under-20 or Under-23 level. Now Fifa has begun a study on whether Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests can help determine the age of players in youth womens football. Fifa expert Dr Yacine Zerguini of Algeria who is currently in Tanzania to execute one of the exercises in collaboration with the Tanzania Football Medical Committee, said in Dar es Salaam at the weekend that the research seeks to crack down on ‘age cheats’ in women’s football. “The problem of age cheating in Under-17 and Under-20 tournaments is widely reported, this is why we have to think of solutions. This research project which is being carried in five continents aims to determine age of players in youth women football.” “MRI of the wrist is a simple, reliable, valid and non-invasive method of age determination in young male football players, and now Fifa wants to find out if the technique can be used in women football,” he said. Zerguini explained on how the study has been conducted saying: “We’re carrying MRI scans of players wrists and by measuring the fusion of bones will be able to determine whether they are actually under 17.” He said the fusion of bones normally takes place for people who are above 17 years, which means if the fusion of bones has already taken place in the player's wrist, she must have passed that age. Zerguini, who was accompanied by Dr Sylvester Faya, the chairman of TFF Medical Committee, said Tanzania was selected to represent the Africa continent in the study in which 130 players will be involved from each of the five countries. Brazil was selected from South America, Canada for North America, Thailand for Asia, while Belgium represents Europe. Source: Kickoff.com