The President of the Council of East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA), Wallace Karia has said the region will start having Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests during Youth tournaments in the region.

Karia who was elected in December last year during the Assembly in Kampala, Uganda said that to avoid age cheating, all teams must take players through MRI tests.

“We do not want to hear some teams complain that some players are too old,” added Karia.

He made it clear that any teams that will be found age cheating will be punished maybe with suspension. “CECAFA will decide on what punishments to give teams caught age cheating,” added Karia.

Francis Amin Michael, President of the South Sudan Football Association (SSFA) and First Vice President of CECAFA said having MRI tests for these tournaments will be a good move. “We need to ensure that all players are in the correct age bracket,” added Amin.

This year CECAFA will have several youth tournaments including the Zonal qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) U-17 and AFCON U-20 to take place in Rwanda and Sudan respectively.

The region will also have the CECAFA U-16 Boys Challenge Cup and the  CECAFA U-17 Girls Challenge Cup among others.