Not a new, nor problem only in African football...
My first wife/s father was a former pro with Man.U and England going back to the 1950s. He was scouted whilst playing for a Manchester area local team but when he went for his trial at Man.u, found they only wanted 23 year olds and under. He was 24 at the time so he simply lied and got away with it his whole career. When he died, about 20 years ago now, his obituary and club records didn't match up and I'm not sure anyone ever found out!

Great post and very well written :-)