Senegal denied reports of age-cheating as their 21-man squad for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Brazil later this month was announced.

“The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) wishes to inform the public that, to date, no player from the U-17 national team selected for the Fifa World Cup “Brazil 2019″ has been denied because of fraud on the part of age, as has been relayed by some local media,” the FSF said in a statement.

The tournament begins on 26 October with the final set for 17 November.

Senegal qualified to participate at the World Cup as one of Africa’s four representatives after Guinea were disqualified for fielding over-aged players at the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Tanzania in April.

The FSF stated that its players had undergone the usual MRI tests during that Nations Cup and that Fifa will conduct “random MRI tests (up to 4 players per team) between October 22 and 24 in Brazil.”

Senegal have made three changes to the squad that represented the country at the U-17 Nations Cup in April.

Midfielder El Hadji Gueye and forwards Meleye Diagne and Ousmane Diallo – who were part of that squad in Tanzania – have all been dropped by coach Malick Daf.

They have been replaced by Mamadou Aliou Diallo, Mbaye Ndiaye and France-based Ibrahima Sy who is the only foreign-based player in the squad.

The Teranga Lions cadets’ only goal-scorers at the tournament in Tanzania – Samba Diallo and Aliou Balde – are also on the list.

The other three representatives at Brazil 2019 are the African champions Cameroon, Nigeria and Angola.

Senegal, who are already in Brazil to prepare for the tournament, are in group D alongside USA, Japan and The Netherlands and will face USA in their opening game on 27 October.

They will lock horns with The Netherlands three days later before they play their final group match against Japan on 2 November.