Michael Nsien: Newly Appointed USA U19 Coach Speaks on Age Fraud in African Football

• Michael Nsien, who was a member of the Nigeria U23 squad in 2003, has been appointed as coach of the USA U19 side
• The tactician is unimpressed with the level of age fraud in youth football, most especially in Africa
• According to him, data of players must be kept as soon as they launch their career

The United States national U19 coach, Michael Nsien, has branded age fraud in youth football as ‘a criminal activity', saying it is a serious issue that must be dealt with.

Nsien, who was part of the Nigeria U23 squad in 2003, has now been appointed to take over from Marko Mitrovic, who was promoted to the United States Olympic team.

He emphasised that federations and football clubs must be responsible for keeping data of players as soon as they start playing football.

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Bleacher reports that age cheating is a common practice in African football to the extent that players in amateur leagues are known to have two ages: the football age and the real age.

However, according to Nsien, there is no age fraud in United States youth football because players are followed throughout the course of their careers.

Responding to Sports Brief’s question via Nigeria Sports Movement (NSM), the 42-year-old said:

“These issues don’t happen in youth football, let alone federation and national team level in the United States.

“There’s no age fraud in the United States because as soon as they register, they get a player pass, and their registration is followed with them throughout the course of the sport.

“So once a player starts playing, their age is identified, captured and updated every single year. So, these problems don’t even exist in the United States.

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“It’s considered a criminal activity. If Nigeria wants to curb that, the consequences that are given to the player and the club need to be very harsh.

“It is also up to the federation and the club to do their own scanning to make sure this is stopped.”

NFF renews Peseiro’s contract

Sports Brief earlier reported that the NFF agreed with Portuguese manager Jose Santos Peseiro to continue as Head Coach of Nigeria's National Team, the Super Eagles.

NFF initially included a clause in his original contract in May 2022, that the Portuguese coach is mandated to lead the Super Eagles, at least, to the semi-finals of the next Africa Cup of Nations, which would be held in Cote d’Ivoire.

The former Porto manager has now agreed to continue in the role after accepting a pay cut on his earlier terms, with the new agreement also putting him in charge of the Super Eagles B side as well.