MRI cracks down on 'age doping' in international youth sports

(DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING) -- MRI has been adopted as a definitive measure for fair play by the International Federation of Association Football, the governing body for international soccer competition. FIFA launched a program of random MRI wrist screening to verify the age of players competing in the Under-17 World Cup hosted by Nigeria between Oct. 24 and Nov. 15. The issue of fielding over-age players has been around for some time. It made headlines again last March at the Confederation of African Football's Under-17 Championship in Algeria when Niger was disqualified for fielding an older player. FIFA announced Aug. 31 that MRI would be used to check the age of players in order to protect the integrity of the World Cup in Nigeria. “Randomly selected players will be tested in Nigeria under the supervision of FIFA's medical experts,” FIFA wrote in a statement.

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