City team barred over age row

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 24

In a major embarrassment for Chandigarh Football Association, the city U-14 boys’ team was on Friday disqualified from the ongoing North-Zone Sub-Junior National Championship at Ambala for fielding an overage player.

The championship is being held under the aegis of All India Football Federation (AIFF), and the local team is likely to face a two-year ban and a penalty of at least Rs 1 lakh for the act. 

The city boys had beat Uttaranchal in their opening match and were up against Punjab today. However, soon after the match started, the Punjab team management raised objection over fielding of an overage player by Chandigarh. 

The match was played under protest, and Punjab lost 2-3. 

Later, AIFF found the complaint genuine and the match commissioner refereed the concerned player for a bone-age verification test. 

After considering the proofs submitted by the Punjab management in support of their claims and the age verification result, the match commissioner disqualified Chandigarh from the tournament. 

A communication was also sent to the AIFF for further action.  

“The match was played under protest,” said one of the organisers. “AIFF may impose a two-year ban and a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Chandigarh,” the organiser added.  

Asked how the match commissioner reached the decision to disqualify Chandigarh, the organisers, who did not wish to be named, said: “The proofs were submitted to the match commissioner after which the decision was taken.” 

“It is probably for the first time that an overage player has been found playing in the U-14 championship,” said the organiser. 

The officials of the Chandigarh Football Association could not be reached for a comment despite repeated attempts. 

The coaching staff which accompanied the team also refused to comment on the issue. 

Interestingly, during the selection trials, the players need to submit their bone-age verification tests to determine their actual age. How did the officials concerned failed to spot the overage player is a question which the Chandigarh Football Association will have to answer.    

Chandigarh Football Academy recruit

The overage player, whose name has been withheld, is said to be a recruit of the Chandigarh Football Academy (CFA). As per the submission made by the Punjab Football Association (PFA), the player was born in the year 2000, while the cut-off date for the tournament was 2004. PFA also stated that the footballer played for the Mahilpur Football Academy before joining the CFA. The findings have also raised questions on the admission procedure followed by the CFA. All the selected players need to undergo a medical test at the Government Multi Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, before signing a seven-year bond with the CFA. Also, the players need to submit a copy of their Aadhaar card and other attested age proofs at the time of admission. The concerned player was allegedly admitted to the CFA in 2014 and might have represented the academy in various championships since then.