Charles Taylor is now a sports pundit at Angel TV
Legendary Ghanaian footballer Charles Taylor has disclosed that he was 20 years old while playing for the national under-17 team some time ago.
According to him, due to the lack of a proper mechanism to detect the real age of players, he was able to join the team and play in various tournaments.
The former Asante Kotoko player noted that this trend has been in place for a long time in the country, with many players in junior national teams being older than their designated age groups.
Speaking on Angel TV, Taylor called on football authorities to implement efficient measures to ensure that players use their real ages when playing for national teams, in order to churn out talented footballers like Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal.
“If you pick players with original U15 years to play, they cannot even kick a ball. Although we have such teams, I doubt their ages. I also played for the national U17 team, but I was older than that age. Those who played on the team were five or more years older.
“I was 20 years old while playing for the team, and nothing stopped me from playing. If we want to produce talents like Lamine Yamal, we should be honest with the ages of players,” he said in Twi.
Taylor has established his legacy in Ghanaian football with his exploits in the Ghana Premier League and the various national teams.
Watch Charles Taylor’s remarks below:
Former Hearts of Oak and Kotoko player Charles Taylor has revealed that he was 20 years old when he played for Ghana’s U-17 team, shedding light on age manipulation in Ghanaian football. pic.twitter.com/ubhXf2jH6a
— EDHUB🌍ℹ (@eddie_wrt) May 17, 2025
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