[Over AGe things] 11 Eaglets fail MRI test for Dubai 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup

GOLDEN Eaglets’ preparation for the Dubai 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, suffered a big setback on Monday as 11 players of the team failed the mandatory Magnetic Resonance Imagery  (MRI) test, which was conducted at the National Hospital, Abuja.

   The team, which had earlier held an open camp in Abuja to select players for its full camping in Kaduna State, was thrown into confusion following the report of the failure of the 11 players to scale through the age determinant test.

  Sources close to the team confirmed to The Guardian that about 30 of the players were brought to Abuja on Monday from their camp in Kaduna for the test, even as it emerged that the coaches were all disappointed that they had been in camp with mostly over aged players for the past one month.

 “It is very unfortunate that we have to start all over to pick the replacement for he players. They will all be sent away from the camp, even though there could be a possible second test for them. But I want to assure you that we will continue with our scheduled programme with the boys and look for replacements from the standby list, which we have. We are determined to take players within the approved age to the championship, we did it in Algeria during the African championship and we are sure that we will go to Dubai with the right players that can give us what we want,” a source within the team assured.

 When contacted, a disappointed chief coach of the team, Manu Garba refused to comment on the test result or give out names of the affected players. - The Guardian