curry stained pilchard 0 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 (edited) Oba the age limit?Aug 14 2006 By Anal Oliver, The Evening Chronicle Newcastle United's bid for Inter Milan striker Obafemi Martins has gone on ice - while they make checks on the Nigerian international's age. Martins is listed on Inter's official website as having been born in Lagos on October 28, 1984, which would make him 21. But reports United are receiving from Nigeria are saying that Martins could be five or six years older. And the word is that Martins was a former playing contemporary of Celestine Babayaro in Nigeria and the United left-back is 28 at the end of this month. United boss Glenn Roeder is paying for the spending sins of his predecessor Graeme Souness, and it's no secret that money is tight at St James' Park these days. Certainly a report yesterday that Roeder has £20m to spend has to be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt. And despite United being desperate for some new blood up front Roeder will leave no stone unturned when he checks out players he wants to bring to Tyneside. Valencia have already agreed to pay Inter 14m Euros for Martins and are prepared to offer the player a six-year contract. Now there is talk that Manchester United could be interested and the chances of one of the fastest players in Europe coming to St James' Park do not appear to be very good at the moment. Over the weekend all the talk was that Portsmouth, with the backing of their new Russian owner, were favourites to sign Martins. But I hear that Harry Redknapp's real target is another Nigerian, Kanu, who he hopes to sign from West Bromwich Albion before the Premiership swings into action on Saturday. Ironically, there have been questions asked about Kanu's real age in his spell in this country first, with Arsenal and then at The Hawthorns. FFS!!! Any other fricken excuses!!!!!???!!111! Edited August 14, 2006 by Fat Boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 46014 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 I tell you what like, he looks a hell of a lot older than 21. Story is that the Nigerian website is wrong - apparently it's not the only age on the website that they've messed up. I doubt the move is "on ice" because of this though - probably Oliver's just discovered it and thought it would make a good story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyshinton 59 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 I tell you what like, he looks a hell of a lot older than 21. Story is that the Nigerian website is wrong - apparently it's not the only age on the website that they've messed up. I doubt the move is "on ice" because of this though - probably Oliver's just discovered it and thought it would make a good story. 176740[/snapback] Only at the Toon. What you still get him if 26 27 years old. I would, he has done allright at Inter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sima 0 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 It's true tbh, look at Roger Milla and Freddy Adu for that matter, he's been 15 for the last 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 14013 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Oliver is a fucking nob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 ok, now I'm worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Patrokles Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 I tell you what like, he looks a hell of a lot older than 21. Story is that the Nigerian website is wrong - apparently it's not the only age on the website that they've messed up. I doubt the move is "on ice" because of this though - probably Oliver's just discovered it and thought it would make a good story. 176740[/snapback] I'm inclined to agree with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombadil 0 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 I wouldn't be surprised if it's true. Ameobi as a lone striker it is then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 46014 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 By the way, as far as poor transfer planning goes, this surely puts scouting players in pre-season friendlies in the shade. Two weeks til the season starts and we're suddenly unsure how old our prime transfer target is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 14013 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Were amatuers tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleftpeg 0 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Smoke and mirrors. Just wait till next week when we sign Michael Owen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Patrokles Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 I sincerely don't believe that this is the case at all. It seems fantastic that Roeder will have come out with the quotes he has, scouted the player, etc, then gone; 'Shit, hang on...' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Could we not have looked into this a little bit earlier or is it just another smokescreen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 By the way, as far as poor transfer planning goes, this surely puts scouting players in pre-season friendlies in the shade. Two weeks til the season starts and we're suddenly unsure how old our prime transfer target is. 176796[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toonpack 9918 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Must admit this is all getting VERY silly, gonna be a long hard season (again) Hope they don't check nigerian records too hard, we'll probably find out Shola is 46 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleftpeg 0 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Roeder finally going to see Kuyt, last week, in a friendly ffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleftpeg 0 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Hope they don't check nigerian records too hard, we'll probably find out Shola is 46 176818[/snapback] It would explain a lot tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 (edited) Hope they don't check nigerian records too hard, we'll probably find out Shola is 46 176818[/snapback] It would explain a lot tbh. 176823[/snapback] Only if they discover he's a 46 year old quadriplegic. Edited August 14, 2006 by DotBum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sima 0 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Could we not have looked into this a little bit earlier or is it just another smokescreen? 176809[/snapback] Just seems Oliver has got whiff of the African age conspiracy theory tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toonpack 9918 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 NFA embarrasses Obafemi Martins, ridicules Nigeria By Tony Ubani Posted to the Web: Thursday, August 04, 2005 Want to Laugh? Visit www.nigeriafa.com AT a time like this when all Nigerians are thinking of how the Super Eagles would qualify for the World Cup, the Nigeria Football Association, NFA, has once again exposed its incompetence to the world with a false information that is now threatening the career of Inter Milan striker, Obafemi Martins. The FA, through its outdated, wrongly and badly fed site, nigeriafa.com, put Obafemi Martins at the centre of an age dispute by stating falsely, on the site, that the goal poacher was born on May 1, 1978 instead of the authentic date of October 28, 1984. Though the discrepancy has brought untold embarrassment to Obafemi who was taunted as a cheat by Italian Press who believed the wrong information of the NFA, Obafemi, has threatened not to honour any national call for the country because of the untold embarrassment to him. But a second look at the ugly site of the NFA which was last updated in March, 2005 also showed a cocktail of embarrassing mistakes, some even funny. That the site of the FA claimed that Obafemi was born in 1978 instead of 1984 is not as horrific as the data on Seyi Olofinjana. Olofinjana, according to the site, was born in November 15, 1982 and played for Nigeria on June 12, 1980 in a match against Malawi. Incredibly, that meant that Olofinjana played for the Super Eagles two years before he was born. What a record that would make the compilers of the Guinness Book of Records envy! If you think that was a mistake, what of the record attributed to Shakter Donesk player, Julius Aghahowa as being born on February 12, 1982? If you think you are reading a story from the new planet, UB313, then ponder about Garba Lawal who the NFA credited as debuting for the Eagles on January 13, 2001. Lawal who played for the Super Eagles in 1997 in Senegal would laugh to high heavens, knowing that anything can happen with the NFA and its administrators. If the Italians who are making a meal over the ‘normal errors’ of the NFA on Obafemi want more of such embarrassing mistakes, they should check the website to see that Christian Obodo, one of the key members of the Super Eagles has no date of birth. Femi Opabunmi who played in the Korea/Japan World Cup, according to the NFA site, is yet to debut for the senior national team, Super Eagles. The mistakes of the NFA on their WONDER site abound with such players as George Abbey, Wilson Oruma, Osaze Odemwengie, Bartholomew Ogbechie, Isaac Okoronkwo, Uche Kalu among others. The hardest task for anybody about the NFA site is to get a correct information about the players. FA boss, Ibrahim Galadima last night regretted the ‘error’ on Martins insisting that the true age of Obafemi remains the one on his passport which is October 28, 1984. Galadima may not even know that the site exists and does not even know how it operates. But he did say that the FA was yet to get a formal letter from Inter Milan but dismissed the threats of Obafemi that he would not play for Nigeria again. "We are embarrassed by such claims that Obafemi is a cheat. He is a young boy and we could not have done that deliberately to humiliate our player. But, he should not be threatening us that he will not play for Nigeria. If he does not play for Nigeria, Nigeria will not disintegrate or die", the FA boss retorted. Nigeria is not new to such scandalous discrepancies or embarrassments. In 1989, Nigeria got her first ban from World Soccer Governing body, FIFA, for wrong documentation of ages of Samson Siasia, Andrew Uwe and Dahiru Sadi. In July 1991, the whole world watched in dismay as the Super Eagles’ tracksuits were cut to shorts in a Nations Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso as the officials forgot the players pants. The passports of Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets were forgotten in Lagos for a match against Benin in Ibadan. If one is suffering from stress, a peep into the NFA site, nigeriafa.com will be a comic relief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10963 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 That the site of the FA claimed that Obafemi was born in 1978 instead of 1984 is not as horrific as the data on Seyi Olofinjana. Olofinjana, according to the site, was born in November 15, 1982 and played for Nigeria on June 12, 1980 in a match against Malawi. Incredibly, that meant that Olofinjana played for the Super Eagles two years before he was born. whey we might be second rate, but this shower are pub league! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBass 2715 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Hope they don't check nigerian records too hard, we'll probably find out Shola is 46 176818[/snapback] It would explain a lot tbh. 176823[/snapback] Only if they discover he's a 46 year old quadriplegic. 176828[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isegrim 9896 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Yeboah was always thought to be a couple of years older than his passport stated. He still did alright for Leeds, though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31195 Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 And the word is that Martins was a former playing contemporary of Celestine Babayaro in Nigeria and the United left-back is 28 at the end of this month. Here's a crazy thought but how about we just fucking ask Babyaro if Martins is 21 or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curry stained pilchard 0 Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 And the word is that Martins was a former playing contemporary of Celestine Babayaro in Nigeria and the United left-back is 28 at the end of this month. Here's a crazy thought but how about we just fucking ask Babyaro if Martins is 21 or not? 177350[/snapback] Why don't we just ask Martins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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