62 Cameroonian players have been suspended by the country's Football Federation (Fecafoot) over claims that they faked their ages.
On Monday, Fecafoot revealed a list of player registrations for Cameroon's first division play-offs, revealing that 62 players would be ineligible. Fifty-two players from 15 clubs were suspended for 'double identity'.
One of the suspended players includes Victoria United star Wilfried Nathan Douala. Douala, officially reported as 17 years old for the tournament, was the youngest player called up for AFCON, but an investigation by French daily Le Monde raised questions regarding his age and identity.
They said he had previously played in the Cameroon league as Alexandre Bardelli and was at least 23 years old. Douala did not appear at AFCON. According to Le Monde, Fecafoot declined to reply after being asked for an explanation.
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Victoria United issued a public statement on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, saying: "Two of our players, Wilfried Nathan Douala and Nji Richmond, were sadly identified as having 'double identification'.
"We wish to bring to the notice of the general public that Wilfried Nathan Douala and Nji Richmond do not have double identities, as speculated by the Cameroon Football Federation, Fecafoot.
"We feel this is an error by the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot). As a result, Fecafoot established a justification period to clarify the mistakes.
“We call on our supporters to remain calm because we have submitted the necessary supporting documents to Fecafoot to overcome this problem because they are not guilty of the acts with which they are accused.”
