Rabiu Ali Isn’t 44. It’s just documentation error’ – Kano pillars deny age of their player who has played in Nigerian league since 2006

Nigerian football club, Kano Pillars has denied the age of their veteran player, Rabiu Ali despite him being a player of the Nigerian league since 2006.

 

Ali, often described as Nigeria’s oldest domestic league player at 44, was born on 27 September 1980 – six months after Nigeria’s Green Eagles lifted their first African Cup of Nations on 22 March in Lagos by defeating Algeria 3-0 in the final.

 

Ahmed Garba (aka:’Yaro Yaro), a former Enyimba CAF Champions League winner in 2003 and current Assistant Coach of Kano Pillars, says that the widely held belief about Kano Pillars’ inspirational midfielder Rabiu Ali’s age is inaccurate.

 

 

Yaro Yaro attributes the ‘confusion’ to a documentation error dating back to 2007, when Ali’s former club, Nasarawa United, competed in continental tournament.

“You know, Rabiu Ali joined us from Nasarawa United. At the time, when they (Nasarawa United) were set to play in a continental competition in 2007, I think it was the CAF Champions League, a mistake was made in his CAF registration document,” explained Yaro Yaro to CompleteSportsNigeria.

When he joined us ahead of our 2009 CAF Champions League campaign, the age in his document couldn’t be changed, as it was already recorded by CAF. Any attempt to alter it would have caused more issues, so it was left as it was. Since then, people have assumed he is 44 and, therefore, considered old,” he added.

 

When asked by Completesports what age he believes Rabiu Ali might have been at that time, Yaro Yaro suggested Ali could have been between 17 and 19 years old.

“Rabiu was still a very young player then, probably around 18 or 19 years. When he joined us at Kano Pillars, there was nothing we could do to correct the age, as it was already recorded by CAF. So, I believe Rabiu is not as old as reported. It’s just a documentation mistake, which could happen to anyone.”