Football administrator Kofi Barwuah has raised concerns over persistent age cheating in Ghana football, arguing that the practice is undermining the development and long-term progress of the game.

Barwuah said the country's obsession with winning at youth level has encouraged the selection of overage players, with teams often assembled to secure immediate results rather than develop genuine young talents.

According to him, some teams are disbanded and reconstituted when they fail to achieve their targets, instead of maintaining a consistent structure that allows players to develop over time.

He stressed that youth football should not focus solely on winning, but also on building a sustainable system that prioritises player development and fair competition.

Barwuah, however, insisted that age cheating remains a major challenge that those involved in the game must be willing to confront.

“I'm like, how old are you? He said, I'm 16. What's your date of birth? And he gives me a date of birth that is like 23 years. This is what we deal in,” he said, describing his experience with age verification in youth football.

He further claimed that the problem is widespread, alleging that between 38 and 39 out of every 50 players presented for youth football could be overage.

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“If you bring 50 kids, about 38 to 39 of them will be overage. So why are you developing a system like that?” he questioned.

The football administrator also cited an example from his own records to illustrate what he considers the scale of the problem, recalling players who featured in his tournament in 2002 at the age of 16 and later formed part of Ghana's Under-20 squad that won the FIFA World Cup in 2009.

He argued that such cases raise questions about the credibility of age records and the effectiveness of the country's youth development structures.

Barwuah maintained that football development must be grounded in proper scientific processes, including accurate age verification, to ensure that players compete in the appropriate age categories.

“You can't cheat science,” he stressed, adding that Ghana's failure to address age cheating could continue to undermine progress in the game.

Age cheating is still happening in our game, and that’s why there is no progression – Kofi Barwuah.

#SportyFM #SportyDrive https://t.co/dgrbt9wooS

— SportyFM Ghana (@SportyFM_) October 29, 2026