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SAFA target age cheating

Johannesburg - The South African Football Association have made huge inroads to eradicate age cheating from the domestic game after implementing a comprehensive digital system.

According to football411.com website, SAFA CEO Robin Petersen reached an agreement with the German Football Association to utilise their comprehensive football enterprise software solution, which will come into play in the provincial and regional leagues next year.

The new system will mean every one of the three million registered players, officials, coaches and referees, as well as the 20 000 clubs throughout South Africa, will be registered in a centralised database.

"This implementation will put an end to the scourge of age cheating over time, as it will allow us to register and track players from the earliest age, and will make it exceptionally difficult to change identities or simply 'appear' on the scene at a late age," Petersen told The Sowetan.

"We have spent the past 18 months researching the best systems in the world, and have decided that the DFB system is the most comprehensive, most well built football management system out there.

"Fortunately, with our cooperation agreement with the DFB, we are getting this software licence free. Our only costs will be those of customising the system for local use, and a maintenance and support fee. This will transform football administration."

Age cheating has run rife in SA over the past few years, with Orlando Pirates the latest to suspend their academy in order to launch a full investigation into cheating allegations, while Kaizer Chiefs endured a similar incident in 2010.

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