The Joeys were meant to play Japan in the quarter-finals, as Yemen topped the group and Japan came second. However, Yemen had been found guilty of playing an over-age player.
FIFA decided that the Wesam Saleh Ahmed Al Worafi couldn’t play, but allowed Yemen to play on as it was decided that it was an innocent mistake rather then a deliberate cheating.
It is quite possible for a selected player to be over-age as an accident and not cheating.
You have to realise that a lot of Asian Countries don’t celebrate birthdays as it’s not considered culturally significant. And a lot of times, documentation of when a child is born is not there.
I know some migrants in Australia who don’t know their exact age or their birth date and make up a date of birth for records.
That’s why (and also because of deliberate cheating) FIFA has now started to have MRI scans of the radial bone (wrist bone) to determine the age of players.
However, FIFA allowed all parties affected to launch an official protest.
The Japanese chose not to protest the decision. The UAE also chose not to protest the decision (which was strange considering that they are the ones affected the most as they finished third in that group).
The only team that decided to protest was Australia, who were due to meet Japan in the Quarter Finals.
This decision was made by Ian Crook and supported by John Boultbee without consultation with FFA.
FIFA approved of the protest and it was ruled that, either intentionally or unintentionally, Yemen fielded an over-age player. By the rules of the game, they must be stripped of points in a 3-0 lost for all matches that the over-age player has played in.
I agree that Yemen should be kicked out as rules are rules. Whether they intentionally cheated or unintentionally fielded an overage player doesn’t change the fact that they had an unfair advantage over every other team.
Nevertheless, it has to be asked whether it is wise that Australia was the one that made the protest.
It was strange that the team least affected by the decision was the one who complained.
To me, the worst thing about this protest is that it gives a message that Australia was afraid to face Japan. Shouldn’t Australia be confident enough to beat any side in Asia?
It’s not exactly a vote of confidence to the players you’re coaching.
Already Yemen are appealing. Their sports minister has been calling this a conspiracy from the AFC. There are also reports that the prognosis by the doctors of the MRI scan was not unanimous.
Although most of the doctors say he was six months over, some doctors reviewing the scan believe he was of legal age, which makes this case even more confusing.
In any case, a brave UAE side, whose bags were packed ready to go back home, came to play at short notice and defeated the Australian team.
So this protest came to nothing. Quite a fitting and ironic ending to the saga.
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