INTRODUCTION
Age fraud in sports means the act where an athlete misrepresents their age in sports events so that they can have an advantage when it comes to age-restricted competitions. In other words, age fraud means and constitutes the action of deliberately misrepresenting one’s age while producing fabricated or fake documentation starting from birth certificates, school certificates, PAN cards, and Aadhaar cards, to passports.
The reasons for committing age fraud can include:
- Gaining the opportunity to participate in age-restricted competitions.
- Taking advantage of physical maturity over younger athletes.
- Accessing various opportunities like scholarships, government jobs, and reserved seats in educational institutes.
- Sometimes all of this results, and aid in even breaking national records.
This act of age fraud certainly ends in jeopardizing the integrity of youth sports, creating an unfair playing field, and potentially causing physical and psychological harm to younger athletes. It’s a serious and pertinent matter not only at the national level but at the international level as well, that is required to be addressed.
INSTANCES OF AGE FRAUD IN INDIAN SPORTS
The below-mentioned are very few instances of age fraud that are committed consistently in all fields of sports
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Manjot Kalra (Cricket)
Cricket is one of the most watched and paid attention to sport in India and is governed by the Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI). Manjot Kalra is a cricketer who is known for scoring a hundred in the final match of the under-19 World Cup in the year 2018. It was later found by the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) Ombudsman that he committed the offence of age fraud during his U-16 and U-19 days and therefore was suspended for a year from playing. Wherein, during the course of the investigation it was found his actual birth year was 1998, but was rather falsely documented with the year 1999.
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Gourav Mukhi (Football)
Gourav Mukhi, a football player played for the Jamshedpur Football Club in the Indian Super League (ISL) and was later suspended for nearly 6 months by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for being caught in the act of age fraud. An AIFF statement said the decision was taken “based on the evidence presented by him (Mukhi), his admissions, and the statements of the Manager of U-16 AIFF academy in 2015”.
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Nisar Ahmed (Sprint)
Nisar Ahmed participated in the 2019 National Youth Athletics Championships in Raipur, he was later disqualified from participating due to committing the act of age fraud.
EXISTING LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN INDIA
NATIONAL CODE AGAINST AGE FRAUD IN SPORTS (NCAAFS) 2010
This code of NCAAFS was introduced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) in the year 2010, to uphold and substantiate core values in sports, including honesty, fair play, and team spirit and eventually eliminating the act of committing age fraud. Some, of the key rules that are required to be looked into are,
- Rule 4.2: If National sports federations fail to comply with the code, they could lose their recognition or financial assistance from the government.
- Rule 4.3 and Rule 4.4: The SAI, Sports Control Boards managed by government departments and public sector undertakings, State Governments, Union territories, and their sports authorities are responsible for taking suitable measures to adopt and implement the code.
- Rule 5: The code prescribes that all players (existing and new) must undergo compulsory medical examination for age determination. This includes general physical examination, dental examination, radiological examination, and MRI/CT scan. Based on the medical report, the National Sports Federation (NSF) or Sports Authority of India (SAI) will issue an I-Card.
- Rule 8: This I-Card is an exclusive proof of age for participation and training in age-restricted events and will be valid for the entire sports career of the athlete.
- Rule 7.4: The cost of the medical examination shall be borne by the government.
- Rule 5.2: If any athlete is found over-aged, they can go for an appeal, and as per the decision, the player would be re-adjusted in the appropriate age group.
- Rule 9: It is the responsibility of NSFs/SAI/ Sports Control Boards/State Governments/State sports authorities to maintain an exhaustive and diligent record of age, along with proof of the age of athletes who have been issued ID Cards and who have been reported overage.
NATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS
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Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
Till the year 2012, the BCCI employed the Greulich & Pyle method (GP method) for verifying the age of players, which ended up having a margin of error of up to 2 years. Therefore, in 2012, BCCI switched to the Tanner-Whitehouse 3 method (TW3), which determines one’s age based on bone growth, particularly in the wrist, and resulted in having a more precise margin of error of six months.
In 2013, the application of TW3 as the sole method for age verification was challenged in the case of Yash Sehrawat & Another vs Board of Control for Cricket in India. The court ruled in favor of BCCI, stating that the age verification policy certainly was reasonable in determining the age of under 16 players. The court also, in this case, noted that “BCCI’s Age Verification Programme was designed to ensure fair competition in its age group tournaments by ensuring players of similar skeletal maturity compete against each other”.
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Sports Authority of India (SAI)
The SAI uses the TW3 test similar to the BCCI to verify the age of athletes who happen to participate in the Khelo India program. However, instead of banning athletes who are from playing, SAI simply makes them ineligible for scholarships under the Khelo India program.
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The Cycle Federation of India (CFI)
The CFI has regulations to prevent age fraud, where if an athlete is found to have committed the act of age fraud, they are suspended or banned from participating for 2 years. However, those suspected of age fraud are referred to an orthopedic doctor for verification, and in that instance, if they are found to be overage, they are allowed to participate in an older age category.
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The Hockey India (HI) Organisation
Hockey India imposes harsh penalties on players and Member Units that are found to have intentionally committed an age fraud offence. A player found guilty of an age fraud offence could be banned from playing any State or National or International events under Hockey India (or its Member Units) for a period of up to 2 seasons or 2 years.
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The All-India Chess Federation (AICF)
Requires players to submit their date of birth certificates that must have been registered within one year of the birth of the child to participate in age group championships organized by the AICF. Further, AICF may also require players to undergo a medical test to ascertain their age
CONCLUSION
The offending element in sports regarding age fraud is a direct undermining of fair play, integrity, and healthy competition, depriving sports in India of credibility due to the monstrous nature of this malfeasance. Although some frameworks such as the NCAAFS of 2010 and measures taken by different sports federations have been initiated to curb this fraudulent practice, a steady implementation coupled with stringent enforcement may help further reduce the number of deceptions. The latest techniques in age verification, awareness-raising campaigns, and measures should help curb such unethical behavior.
