AFC to crack down on age violations at U-19<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has
\npromised to take strong measures against any age violations
\nproven to have occurred during the ongoing Asian Youth Under-19
\nsoccer championship finals.<\/p>\n
\"The problems will not finish once the tournament comes to an
\nend,\" AFC Vice President Nabon Noor said yesterday. AFC's top
\nIndonesian official admitted that there might have been a number
\nof overage cases in the championship's 58-year history.<\/p>\n
\"The problem is that we lack evidence. We have to respect the
\nvalidity of passports,\" Nabon said, adding there was no
\nindication of age violations through passport verification
\nprocedures.<\/p>\n
Nabon said a national soccer federation faces a two or three
\nyear expulsion from international competitions by AFC if the
\nregion's soccer body finds it guilty of violating age
\nrequirements.<\/p>\n
Kuwait's head of delegation, Mohammed Al Shamiri, told a press
\nconference on Tuesday that he suspected six participating teams
\nhad brought in over-aged players to participate in the two-week
\nevent. He refused to disclose which teams he thought were
\ncheating, but said that the Kuwaiti, Indonesian and Thai players
\nwere not among the offenders.<\/p>\n
Shamiri also blasted AFC for taking no strict measures against
\nviolators. \"They did know it, but they do nothing for the sake of
\nfriendliness,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Nabon said AFC will step in to resolve the row after the
\nchampionship. \"Before entering this tournament, all participating
\nteams had agreed to allow us to conduct rechecking procedures by
\nexamining their players' birth certificates and probably X-raying
\nthe players,\" Nabon said.<\/p>\n
X-raying is widely used in sports to detect an athlete's age
\nthrough his or her anatomy.<\/p>\n
Nabon also defended AFC for not taking immediate action,
\nsaying that such measures would impede the organization of the
\ntournament.<\/p>\n
Syria favored<\/p>\n
Friday's semifinals will focus rivalry between the region's
\nwestern hemisphere and its opposing hemisphere when Syria meets
\nThailand and Iraq tackles Japan.<\/p>\n
Syrian coach Marwan Arafat said yesterday his side was 100
\npercent ready not only to end Thailand's blistering run, but also
\nto bring home the championship title.<\/p>\n
\"Our chance has grown better as we play Thailand instead of
\nJapan or South Korea,\" Arafat said.<\/p>\n
Syria, which edged out the defending champion 5-4 on penalties
\nin their qualifier, becomes the only team to reach the last four
\nrounds unbeaten. It has collected the tournament's highest points
\nof 10 and topped the tournament's goal record with 13 against
\nthree.<\/p>\n
Thailand admitted to being the underdog. \"The Syrians are
\nstrong, but there won't be a one-sided match,\" Thailand team
\nleader Thavatchai Sajakul said. A group of sponsors have
\nearmarked US$20,000 in cash rewards for each Thailand player if
\nthe Southeast Asian side wins a final berth.<\/p>\n
Finalists of the championship will enter the World Under-20
\nsoccer championship finals in Lagos, Nigeria, next year.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Japan was low-key yesterday about the semifinal
\nbattle against Iraq. Coach Koji Tanaka expressed his guarded
\noptimism that his players would at least score a 1-0 victory.<\/p>\n
\"Beating South Korea is more than a morale building confidence
\nmaker for us,\" he said. Japan nipped the South Koreans 1-0, while
\nrequiring a draw to get into the semifinals.<\/p>\n
The 1988 winner, Iraq, revealed optimism as well. Salman Ahmad
\nAkram, the national coach who led Iraq's World Cup campaign in
\nMexico in 1990 and in the World Cup qualifying round in Doha,
\nQatar recently, said he had learned a lot from those experiences.<\/p>\n
\"We drew the Japanese national team in Doha, which prevented
\nthem from making a trip to the United States. SO why can't we
\nbeat them now,\" Akram said. (amd)<\/p>",
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