DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 2: An embarrassing own goal has kicked Nagaland out of this year’s Subroto Cup: the burning ignominy of disqualification for fielding overage players in the squad.
A source told Nagaland Page on Monday that tournament rules prescribe instant disqualification of the team if four or more players in the squad are detected as overage. At the time of writing this report, the number of players found overage in the Nagaland squad could not be ascertained.
But it is safe to assume, as per the competition policy, that at least four of the players will have been found overage. Nagaland was represented by Greenwood Higher Secondary School, Dimapur, the source said.
It was informed that participation in Subroto Cup comes under the purview of the State’s Youth Resources and Sports Department.
On Monday evening, the organisers of Subroto Cup, Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society (SMSES), announced a new fixture for the sub-junior under-14 boys’ competition of the 62nd edition of Subroto Cup Inter School International Football Tournament.
“The development was forced given 15 teams had to be unfortunately disqualified for fielding overage players in their squad. The new fixtures contain 22 teams divided into 8 groups”, the organisers said.
They also announced that all the matches which were played on Sunday, October 1, would be deemed null and void.
According to the organisers, a Skeletal Age Estimation Test was conducted on Sunday as per the regulations of the tournament and the criteria set by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The test was conducted at a hospital in Bengaluru by a doctor assigned by the AIFF.
“A total of 126 players were tested in which 87 players failed the test and 34 players cleared the result. The result of 5 players will be announced today. A minimum of 4 players from each team were tested and the 15 teams disqualified had a minimum of 4 players found to be overage.
“SMSES this year has taken such an initiative under the aegis of the AIFF to curb age fraud in the best interest of a fair tournament”, it informed.
This year’s age fraud disgrace comes in the shadow of last year’s glory: Pilgrim Higher Secondary School, Dimapur, had beaten Government Model Higher Secondary School, Chandigarh, to bring home the Subroto Cup Boys Under-17 crown after 42 years.
(Page News Service)
