Odisha field 12 players disqualified for age fraud in Dr. B.C. Roy Trophy

An astonishing 12 players did not pass the TW3 test for the AIFF Junior League in April 2024

Age fraud remains one of the most significant issues in Indian football. Without addressing it, India will struggle to become a competitive team on the global stage. Despite various steps taken by different bodies to tackle this problem, no definitive solution has emerged.

In April 2024, the AIFF disqualified 12 players from Odisha’s teams (Odisha FC and Odisha Sports) during the AIFF Junior League based on TW3 testing using the BoneXpert device made by Danish firm Visiana.

Three months later, Odisha have fielded all 12 of these ‘disqualified’ players at the ongoing Junior Boys’ National Football Championship for the Dr. B.C. Roy Trophy 2024-25 in Chhattisgarh. To no one’s surprise, Odisha have qualified for the tournament’s semi-finals.

Odisha defeated Uttar Pradesh 3-1 and Mizoram 3-2 in the group, further raising eyebrows among football experts. Khel Now investigated with our sources and found that all the key players of this Odisha team had failed the age test just a few months ago.

As per ‘TW3 Skeletal Maturity according to BoneXpert’ reports, which Khel Now has access to, none of these 12 players are eligible to play in this tournament.

A source tracking this issue said, “It’s shocking that AIFF could allow overage players at this level. Earlier, they used to say they didn’t have enough resources to identify the age. Still, now, even with medical tests, they are allowing overage players, which is dangerous for our actual young players.”

According to match reports in the AIFF database, the Man of the Matches from Odisha and the team’s highest scorer at this tournament are among the 12 players who failed the test earlier this year.

“Allowing cheaters to come back so early endangers our actual junior players and let’s teams win trophies to claim more money from their government,” added a source related to a participating team in the ongoing nationals.

On July 12, the AIFF announced on their website, “In a decisive move to reduce age fraud and maintain the integrity and competitiveness of youth football, the AIFF will implement stricter TW3 ratings for the 2024-25 season.”

TW3 Ratings for 2024-25 Season:

• Sub-Junior Youth League Player: 12.80
• Junior Youth League Player: 14.80

The AIFF have not issued any guidelines for the TW3 test for national competitions, whereas in club competitions, clubs are required to present the TW3 results before the competition starts.

The AIFF recently sent a circular regarding the age cut-off for Junior Nationals 2024-25, specifying that players must be born on or after 01.01.2009 and on or before 31.12.2010.

A source tracking the issue said, “When players were disqualified for the 2009-2010 age category in April 2024 for the Junior League, it is shocking that the same players are now allowed to play in another competition with the same date of birth cut-off (01.01.2009 to 31.12.2010). A club is banned from participating in the AIFF League based on the TW3 result, but a state team can participate without any restrictions.”

Indian football fans hope that the AIFF will take the age fraud issue seriously and prevent such occurrences at future tournaments.

Khel Now contacted the AIFF about this issue, but our e-mails went unanswered.

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