World football governing body, FIFA, has warned that any country that registers over-age players for the Nigeria 2009 U-17 World Cup, which begins in October, risked being banned from international football for many years.

Warning the participating countries to adhere strictly to the prescribed age limit for players at the championship during the draws in Abuja over the weekend, the co-ordinator of FIFA's media department, Emmanuel Maradas, revealed that the federation has a fool-proof means of determining the ages of players registered for the competition.

He noted that countries had been cheating in the previous championships by using over-aged players, adding: "We have to make sure that the U-17 championship is played by players of the same age category. This time, FIFA will be very strict on the ages of players who will play in the championship."

Maradas disclosed that the newly introduced MRI age screening machine would help to expose countries that register over-aged players in the competition. It could be recalled that Niger Republic, which qualified for the Nigeria 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, was banned by FIFA for using over-aged players during their qualifying matches. The country was replaced with Malawi, which has been grouped with Spain, USA and the United Arab Emirates, to be hosted at the Kano Center.