What does verified actually mean?

1 · Identity

Age checked at source

The player's name and date of birth are verified against Nigeria's National Identification Number register before a session date is issued. No match, no session. The age band on the card is the age on record. Bands are birth-year bands with a 1 January cut-off, as the NFF and FIFA use them: U13, U15, U17, U20, Senior. Boys and girls are never mixed, in a session or in a score.

2 · The match

A full-format match, equal minutes

Players are grouped by age band and gender and play a full-format match. Each player is played in a position he or she claimed at signup, and every player gets the same minutes. There are no drills and no tests to coach for; the data comes from a game.

3 · Athletic

Measured by a FIFA-approved GPS pod

A FIFA-approved GPS pod worn during the match records movement. Top speed, distance covered, sprint count, high-intensity distance and sprint time are exported from the device and written to the card as exported. Nobody keys them in. Body measures (height, weight, wingspan, standing reach, sitting height) are taken on the day.

4 · Technical

Rated by qualified assessors

Match footage goes to MiniStats assessors under contract in Europe, North America and South America. Two layers: objective match events per player (attempted and completed, position-relevant), and position-specific attributes rated 1 to 5, each with timestamps into the footage. Scores return within seven days with the assessor's signed note.

5 · Scoring

Percentiles within the band, never blended

The two headline scores are percentiles within the player's own age band and gender, among every assessed player in that pool. A score stays blank until fifty players are in the pool, then is set once and never recalculated. Athletic and Technical are never combined into one number: a blended rating hides exactly what a scout needs to know.

6 · Progress

Reassessed every ninety days

Players are reassessed each quarter. Every reading is kept, and trends only compare the same assessed band. A card is a direction, not a snapshot.