Probe of age cheats in Asia U-16 sought

JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia – Hostilities in the FIBA Asia U-16 Men’s Championship have yet to start, but some quarters already raised the possibility of massive age-cheating and requested an investigation among all competing athletes.

In the team managers’ meeting at the New York Hotel here late Wednesday, executives of three Middle East countries complained that some teams are set to field over-aged players to easily win this tournament, which serves as the qualifying stage for the FIBA U-17 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany next year.

Officials from Jordan, Syria and Kuwait also requested FIBA-Asia secretary general Dato Yeoh Choo Hock to conduct bone examination among suspected athletes.

They cited the case of football where FIFA found out Nigeria fielded three players above the prescribed age limit in the recent FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Save for passport verification, FIBA-Asia doesn’t have a strict screening process.

No particular country was mentioned, but insiders said the officials could be referring to China, which reportedly brought its U-19 squad instead of fielding boys born after 1993.

Parading a towering squad with an average height of 6-4, China is in Group A with two Middle East countries – Saudi Arabia and Jordan – and India.

“Everybody was worried about possible age-cheating,” said Nokia U-16 Team Pilipinas manager Joel Lopa, who represented the country in the two-hour meeting with Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) competitions committee chairman Bernie Atienza.

The Nationals already met the Chinese in a series of exhibition matches in China last June and in the FIBA 33 competition of the Asian Youth Games in Singapore last July.

But RP Team mentor Eric Altamirano reminded his team not to get intimidated with the taller, older squads and just focus on the task at hand.

Team Pilipinas was still playing the dangerous Japanese squad at the Bandaraya Johor Bahru Stadium at press time. The team defeated Japan, 71-59, in the eliminations of the second Nokia Invitational Basketball Championship in Cebu City recently.

The Filipinos, however, still need to win against Kazakhstan today and Bahrain tomorrow to advance to the quarterfinal stage.

“We just can’t let the issue affect the morale of the boys,” Altamirano said. “Whether other teams are cheating or not is none of our business. Everybody is in high spirits. We’re here to win the crown.”