Age cheating has long been a bane of youth football in Ghana. 

However, in recent times, the introduction of the MRI tests have proven to curb the rampant cases of cheating at national youth  team levels.

These tests have helped sanitize the national pool, but has not necessarily prevented individuals from altering their ages to gain an advantage. 

Head Coach of Ghana’s U-17 men’s national team, Frimpong Manso, has opened up on the difficulty of scouting at that level due to age cheating.

He described the process of the MRI tests as a “lottery,” due to its potential to derail scouting efforts. 

“They say, man proposes, but God disposes. You’ll do your selection thinking that is that, but then you have to face the MRI. It’s like a lottery,” he told Sporty FM

“You don’t know who’ll go through and won’t. So until that [MRI] is done, we will not know the exact number of players we have.

“We’re waiting to see what’ll happen after the MRI, so that we can have the opportunity to scout for more talent, in case we lose a lot of numbers after the MRI process,” he added.