South Africa U17 coach Shakes Mashaba has accused Ghana of fielding overaged players for their African U17 Championship final qualifier even though the players are MRI-certified.
The Black Starlets recorded a 2-1 win over the Amajimbos on Saturday to advance to the finals 5-3 on aggregate.
Ghana played with players who have been cleared by CAF to feature in the qualifiers after they underwent MRI scans to verify that they are qualified to play at the U17 level.
Despite the MRI clearance from CAF, Mashaba doubts the age of talented 13-year-old Ghana midfielder William Denkyi.
“There is a player who is born in 1999. If we do our arithmetic that means that boy is 13 years,” Mashaha said.
“I don’t mind if the Ghanaians grow as big as elephants. Our players were all born in 1996 but there is not a single one I will say he is either big or small.
“But Ghana’s Number 14 born in 1999 is 13 years.”
In March this year, South Africa U17 girls coach Gregory Mashilo questioned the ages of Ghana’s Black Maidens after they were eliminated from the 2012 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
The Ghana FA slammed the claim by Mashilo which resulted in an apology from the South Africa Football Association (SAFA).
It is not known if the Ghana FA will complain to SAFA over Mashaba’s comments.
