The age-old cancer of age cheating and misrepresentation of details by footballers could soon be history if ZIFA are successful in implementing the new FIFA-designed registration system.

Zimbabwe Connect, an elaborate registration platform derived from the global FIFA Connect, has little room for manipulation unlike the unrefined old procedures which were littered with irregularities.

ZIFA Communications manager Xolisani Gwesela said as from this year registration of all players and football stakeholders will be synchronized from the schools up to established clubs.

The new registration platform will set up a permanent international online database of players, referees and officials.

Gwesela said apart from in curbing age cheating and protecting minors, the advantage with the new system is that data cannot be tempered with.

There have been several cases of players falsifying their birth records and others changing their names in order to circumvent the system and earn places in junior teams and even moving to clubs abroad under the pretense.

“Once an individual is assigned a member identification code at initial registration, the same code is retained for the whole career, even when one retires from a role and assumes another, for example from being a footballer to coach.

“What the responsible authority has to do in such an instance is to simply assign the person a new role, and all this is done online,” said Gwesela.

“Age cheating is, and has been regarded as the major reason why African players fizzle out when they are still expected to blossom.

“With this new global stakeholder registration platform, school pupils will also be registered, a move which will go a long way towards curbing the likelihood of age cheating at later stages of players’ careers.

“(However) the lack of communication technologies infrastructure in the third world poses a challenge to the full integration of stakeholders, especially those in rural communities.”

The new platform will only act as a pool where all football stakeholders are found but registration of players for domestic competitions like the Premier Soccer League remains in place.

ZIFA this week held a workshop where representatives from the regions underwent initial training with Malawian expert Gomezgani Zakazaka and the association’s Transfer Matching System manager, Timothy Mazhindu.

The association will conduct further training workshops for other stakeholders in order to ensure a smooth transition from Licence Plus, the previous player registration system, to the new.

The Zimbabwe Connect will be launched once FIFA have completed the alterations recommended at the workshop.

Zakazaka said Zimbabwe stands to benefit in a big way from the new system. His home country Malawi have recently adopted the global platform while Ghana was the first country to be connected to FIFA Connect in 2015.

“Zimbabwe and Africa will gain a lot. ZIFA, just like other FAs, will be able to gather data on all their stakeholders from all corners of the world.

“It will help to systematically register players and other stakeholders, establish information systems and standards for the exchange of data across national borders, promote a more fact-based management of football development activities following a global standard.

“Zimbabwe and Africa gather a lot of information as well as the ability to keep track of stakeholders like players, coaches and referees wherever they are in the world. 

“The system will also help on issues like receiving compensation for international transfers, controlling players’ ages and protection of minors, just to mention a few.

“The system will also enhance ZIFA and other African FAs’ capabilities in organising competitions while also enabling them to maintain an accurate, up-to-date database of every person and entity involved in football,” said Zakazaka.