KOHIMA— As reports of 15 teams, including Nagaland being disqualified from the ongoing Sub Junior (U-14) Boys’ Subroto Cup in Bengaluru due to fielding of four overage players surfaced, Director of Youth Resources and Sports (YRS). Kethosituo Sekhose said that there was no question of tampering with age certificates as far as the state players were concerned.
Greenwood Higher Secondary School, Dimapur, was supposed to represent the state in this year’s edition.
Sekhose told Eastern Mirror that the birth certificates and Aadhaar cards of the players were issued in 2013 or earlier.
“If new certificates were issued, there might be a chance of manipulation, but these certificates are old, with the latest one dating back to 2013,” he said.
The Skeletal Age Estimation Test, which was conducted on Sunday, as per the regulations of the tournament and the criteria set by the All India Football Federation categorised four players from Nagaland as overaged, resulting in the disqualification of the team from participating in the Subroto Cup.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]Such tests have been conducted previously to verify players’ age, and this time too, some players were disqualified due to the strict enforcement of the rules, unlike in the past. “This is not something new to our people,” Sekhose said.
While such tests are not common in Nagaland, the official said it a wake-up call for the state to implement age-related tests while participating in games.
Regarding appeals, Sekhose informed that the organisers decided not to accept any, given the presence of 15 school teams, including some from neighbouring states like Manipur as well as NCC, and Sainik schools in the disqualified team list for the same reason.
It was also learnt that one of the boys underwent a second skeletal test from a different lab and was found to be born in 2010, but the organisers decided not to allow the team to play. So Nagaland unfortunately found itself in the disqualified team list.
The tournament rules mandate an immediate disqualification of the team when four or more players in a side are found to be overage.
However, the disqualified teams from the main event are allowed to participate through a knockout match fixture.
The players found to be overage would not play, but the team can still participate in the knockout matches.
A pre-Subroto Cup was organised in Dimapur this year, where various schools participated.
Greenwood Higher Secondary School emerged as the champions and earned the qualification to represent the state in the Subroto Cup.