KN Impact: Mizoram FA writes to AIFF over age fraud by Odisha in Junior Boys NFC

AIFF are yet to respond to Mizoram FA’s letter and Khel Now’s queries.

Khel Now’s report on August 2, 2024, uncovered a troubling development: Odisha fielded 12 overage players in the Junior Boys’ National Football Championship for the Dr. B.C. Roy Trophy 2024-25 in Chhattisgarh. These players had previously been caught for age fraud in the AIFF Junior League back in April 2024, leading to Odisha FC and Sports Odisha being disqualified from that league. Just a few months after their initial offense, it was repeated, raising serious questions about the effectiveness of AIFF’s actions.

Despite the article coming out, Odisha continued to field the same team in both the semi-final and final of the tournament, blatantly disregarding the rules and the spirit of fair play.

Khel Now has obtained a letter written by the Honorary Secretary of Mizoram FA to AIFF’s Acting General Secretary, M Satyanarayan, dated August 2, 2024. The letter was also sent to AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, Chairman of the Competition Committee Anil Kumar Prabhakaran (Now General Secretary) and Director of Competitions Akshay Rohatgi.

🚨 An astonishing 12 players did not pass the TW3 test for the AIFF Junior League in April 2024, but now all these 12 players are playing in the Junior Nationals in Chhattisgarh. Shocking details here. 🇮🇳⚽️ @KhelNow #IndianFootballhttps://t.co/PkFRnmpWk1

— Ashish Negi (@7negiashish) August 2, 2024

In the letter, Mizoram FA referenced the article published by Khel Now and shared their own findings on the same issue.

Here’s an excerpt from the letter:

"As you are aware, Mizoram FA has taken the issue of age fraud head-on and has initiated measures to eliminate this problem from the game. However, since this fight against age fraud has not yet been scaled up to influence the country as a whole, innocent players continue to be punished while the perpetrators, through sheer age difference and superiority in size and power, continue to secure favorable results and often go unpunished. This must stop, and for that, AIFF and its Member Associations need to unite and take action. "It has come to our attention, through media reports and reliable sources, that such fraudulent actions, perpetrated and supported by a Member Association, have resurfaced in the ongoing National Football Championship for Junior Boys, currently taking place in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh. "To our knowledge, twelve (12) players from the Odisha Junior Boys Football Team in the said NFC had failed the age verification based on TW3 Testing conducted during the AIFF Junior League in April 2024. These players had represented Odisha FC and Sports Odisha in that competition and were reportedly disqualified by AIFF. However, to our surprise, these same players were allowed to participate in the National Football Championship for Junior Boys, organized by the AIFF, in the same age group where they had previously failed their age verification tests, just four months later." "The future of Indian football rests on the integrity of the players we promote and develop, and the credibility of our football development depends on allowing players to progress through the age groups, competing with players of their own age. If this integrity is not preserved, the foundation of Indian football will be shaken and untrustworthy. I, therefore, urge you to take cognizance of this anomaly and initiate the necessary punitive actions against the offending Member Association and those involved, to send a strong message that age fraud will not be tolerated in Indian Football. "I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you of the Voluntary Age Disclosure proposal submitted by Mizoram FA, which was discussed during the AGM at Itanagar. We have not heard back from the AIFF regarding this—a simple but effective solution to tackle age fraud, which I believe has the capacity to change the dynamics of age group football in India."

A source close to the issue told Khel Now, “Mizoram FA was asked to file a formal complaint with the promise of action, but this promise seems to have been like many others from the AIFF—no action has been taken.”

“Mizoram FA also sent the article link to Director of Competitions, Akshay Rohatgi, but received no response,” the source added.

Khel Now also contacted the AIFF again on August 21 to inquire about their official position on the issue. Unsurprisingly, AIFF has chosen not to respond to our queries.

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