The ManicaPost
THE Copa Coca-Cola Under-16 boys’ tournament has come of age after celebrating its Silver Jubilee last year, but somehow a controversial age-vetting exercise remains a permanent yet nauseating part of an otherwise exciting and valuable talent development competition.
On Sunday, Chemhanza High of Mashonaland East were once again crowned champions of this prestigious schools soccer tournament at Gwanzura Stadium in the capital for the second consecutive year, but it is the brutal and inaccurate age-vetting process that will always linger in the minds of many.
The 2014 edition of the annual schools soccer fete saw a total of 35 boys being adjudged over age after undergoing a rather cruel vetting process that included physical vetting and the use of national identity documents.
That Mkondwa High from Mashonaland East earned the sympathy of many neutrals after the school was left with only nine eligible players after vetting, but still powered their way to the semi-finals of the tournament, was a bad advert to a vetting process that badly needs to be altered or improved.
Apparently this is not the first time that a team had to be left to play with a depleted side after Mutare Boys’ High, the Manicaland representatives in the same tournament in 2009 in Chinhoyi, were also left with nine players after the same cruel vetting process.
Interestingly, Mutare Boys’ High also managed to find their way to the semi-finals.
Apart from Mkondwa High who lost 11 players during vetting, Mzilikazi, Vimbai, Pamushana, Chemhanza and Cheziya had two players each vetted out, while Chipadze had three.
Mutare Boys’ High lost four, while Oriel and Churchill did not have any of their players vetted out.
In an interview on the sidelines of the tournament in Harare, Zifa board member development John Phiri said the expulsion of players that left some teams with fewer players on the field of play is not only grossly unfair but defeats the whole purpose of developing talent.
“This is just unfair. The team (Mkondwa High) has been left with nine players. This defeats the whole purpose of developing talent. It appears there are some underhand forces in the vetting process that deliberately weaken stronger teams.
“As a matter of fact, Mkondwa High is coming from a rural setting and we have now lost a chance to see how really good the youngsters from that part of the country are. I think the administrators of this tournament should invest in finding a lasting solution to age-vetting issues,” said Phiri.
Zimbabwe Junior Football Association chairman Zivanai “Zifa” Chiyangwa echoed Phiri’s sentiments, saying vetting should be completed at the district or provincial level so that when the teams come to the national finals, they have the rightful and licensed players.
“I think this defies the whole purpose of developing talent at school level. At times one thinks it is better off if they alter the age groups of the tournament and give it to the U-20s so that all students at a school might be eligible.
“Otherwise we should have this vetting process done at the early stages of the competition and players get their licence for the year to play for their respective schools until the national finals.
“We really would not want to see players being vetted out of over-aged players being left to play only because their headmasters are influential,” said Chiyangwa.
National Association of School Heads head in charge of soccer, Albert Mucheka, who confirmed the figures of those vetted out this year, conceded that age-vetting needs a lasting solution.
“It is regrettable and this is really a problem. I think sponsors and us as NASH need to find a lasting solution. There is no doubt that we need a machine to verify the ages of participants. Physical vetting and the use of documents can be manipulated.
“Because of desperation, we ended up accepting those with passports under the pretext that a passport is hardly manipulated but if one obtains a birth certificate with a wrong date of birth, they can also easily get a passport bearing the same wrong date of birth. It is quite a tricky situation,” he said.
In 2012, a total of 28 boys and three girls were deemed above age in the national Copa Coca- Cola finals that were held in Victoria Falls and this year’s figure shows a considerable increase.
Physical vetting is merely judging the bodily appearance of an individual to verify whether they fall within the acceptable age limit and it is normally employed in the final phase of the pre-tournament vetting process after verification of identity documents of all participants.
A number of players naturally endowed with big frames but still within the eligible age limit to play normally fall victim to this cruel process.
In the same measure, a number of over-aged players, who physically appear small, are normally allowed to play irrespective of their hardly perceptible ineligibility.
