Disqualified Young Warriors to return today

The Zimbabwe under 17 soccer team is set to return home today after one of the side’s players failed an MRI scan resulting in the disqualification of the team from competing in the Souther African tournament which was rest and got underway yesterday.

Botswana, Comoros Islands and Eswatini are the other sides which suffered the same fate as Zimbabwe. In a statement by the Zimbabwe Football Association yesterday, efforts to lodge an appeal against Cosafa’s decision were fruitless although ZIFA still strongly feels that the young warriors were hard done.

In accordance with new competition rules if a nation is found with 1 or more players that are deemed to be over age the participating nation will be automatically disqualified. The development has led to a reset in the competition format which began on Sunday. Zimbabwe had kicked off their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Angola before the sides disqualification.

Doctors look for bone fusions in the human wrist, which are highly unlikely to occur before the age of 17 with a more than 99% accuracy rate. Cosafa has however acknowledged that the MRI scan does not determine age 100% as other factors such as environment and genes have a role to play.