Serengeti Boys destined for the AYC finals

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) officials must be rubbing their hands with glee after Langa Bercy, a Congolese player accused of age cheating, failed to show up again for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test.

His failure to show up for the test, which had been ordered by the Confederation of African Football (Caf), means it is now certain that Tanzania’s national youth team, Serengeti Boys, will compete in the 2017 African Youth Championship (AYC) finals.

On January 12, Caf ordered Bercy to undergo an MRI test in Libreville, Gabon before yesterday to verify his age, The Citizen has learnt.

Bercy scored when Congo eliminated Namibia and was also on target when they eliminated Tanzania to qualify for the finals.

He was to take the test in front of a delegation from Tanzania, the country whose protest had led Caf to order the test. Last week, Caf told the TFF not to send its officials to Libreville after learning that the Congo football authorities could not beat the 10-day ultimatum the confederation had given them to send the player to Gabon for the test. It was the third time the Congolese player failed to show up for the test. And, according to the rules and regulations governing the Africa youth tournament, Congo Brazzaville will now miss out on the finals.

Congo-Brazzaville secured a place at the finals to be held in a country yet to be named after eliminating Serengeti Boys in the final qualifying round.

But TFF subsequently launched a protest, alleging that their opponents had fielded six over-age players.

The federation wrote to Caf asking the African football governing body to carry out relevant age tests on players named in its protest.

Caf subsequently singled out Bercy for an MRI scan and ordered him to report to Cairo, Egypt for the test.

Bercy and Congo Brazzaville football officials were to attend the exercise on November 18, last year, but the player did not show up.

TFF was represented by two physicians, Dr Mwanandi Mwamkemwa and Edmund Ndalama. Also on the list was Youth Football Development Committee chairman, Ayoub Nyenzi.

This forced Caf to announce another date for the MRI test, December 15, last year. The player did not show up again.

When contacted for comment on the new development yesterday, TFF secretary general, Mwesigwa Celestine said they were still waiting for a statement from Caf.