Twelve players disqualified in 2024 at the AIFF Junior League, 87 players disqualified out of a possible 126 last year in 2023 at the Under-14 Subroto Cup, and the list goes on. From local leagues to the biggest stages, age falsification has continued to distort and erode the essence of not just football but sport in general: competition.
It wouldn’t be breaking news to state that age fraud has plagued Indian football. The practice has been an open secret at all levels, hindering the growth of genuine talent for decades.
But in a country as cricket-crazed as India — a country where the glitz, glam, and superstardom are mostly reserved only for those who wield the willow and leather, while others are expected to toil away on their own in the shadows till they achieve significant success on their own — it only worsens the already diminutive view of Indian football that exists within our nation and around the world as well.
The Lack of Verification Protocols
To understand this, we can examine one major instance. Let’s discuss Gaurav Mukhi.
Once deemed the ‘youngest goalscorer in the history of the Indian League at just 16 years old,’ Gaurav Mukhi of Jamshedpur FC caught the eye of the footballing world as a whole, not merely for his feat but also when it was revealed that he had falsified his age.
But soon enough, international online media latched onto the story, and Indian football made all the headlines for the wrong reasons, as many quoted Mukhi’s actual age ranging between 26 and 30 when the forward’s age was being referenced without an actual source.
But how did Mukhi and many others who have indulged in the same practice slip through the cracks? Wouldn’t there be measures to verify them? Therein lies a bigger issue: a lack of an established and trusted protocol that consistently yields accurate results.
Documentation pertaining to age verification is susceptible to corruption. Since reliable, official state records are not always available, we have also employed scientific approaches for bone age testing, such as TW3 Testing, to aid in the process.
However, as with any scientific endeavour, such methods are also not completely inclusive or conclusive.
“An Indian-centric database needs to be established for the testing done to ensure age. There is a serious need to have an atlas for our players to have a more precise and justified system to determine whether the player is of the age he claims to be or not,” stated Richard Hood, Consultant – High-Performance Training & Player Development.
“Bone profiles of players differ from country to country, and maturity is another aspect to factor in when talking about determining age. Growth is never linear, so the bigger ask is that apart from the existing protocols such as the TW-3, more critical testing protocols are devised.”
Understanding the Root Causes of Age Fraud
With so much already said about age fraud being such a bane, why does it exist?
There are multiple perspectives on it. Still, players, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds, often yearn to utilise sports as a way to support themselves. For them and many others who dream, sport isn’t merely an escape from reality but an avenue to better one’s reality as well.
Athletes in any sport usually have short careers. Hence, there is often a pressing need to maximise the benefits one may gain from the sport during this narrow window.
“Being in football in India is not an easy journey whatsoever. We have just about 20-24 clubs in India. The journey to rise up the ranks in Indian football is not linear in any way whatsoever. Players from different parts of the country have drastically different experiences and obstacles of their own,” stated Darren Caldeira, former Indian footballer and current Director of Football at Bengaluru FC.
“The main goal is not just securing a professional contract, but securing the minutes to play and persisting through the initial years. Many give up in those first few years. So, the real challenge begins after you secure that first contract and that first paycheck, ensuring a future in this demanding sport.”
For those who face dire realities, it is easy to be blinded by fraud. But, what many fail to understand at the same time is the counterproductive nature of their actions, for themselves personally and for the sport as a whole in the bigger picture.
When players are made to face off and compete against older players, the dropout rate skyrockets in the sport. Just place yourself in the shoes of someone who loves to play a sport and think about it. We all have had our moments in life of going up against the older kids. When we are young, it is often too easy to be intimidated by the sheer mismatch and to trick ourselves into believing that we are not good enough.
Now, imagine this on a national level. Youngsters who dream of playing the beautiful game not just for glory but also for the spirit of the game itself end up losing faith in the system. And we, as a nation, lose out on priceless talent.
“Young players at a U15 or U16 level are made to face off against older players, and often times, a good chunk of the youngsters ultimately give up on their dreams when they could have perhaps actually surpassed the older peers. So, it’s just a big shame, from both a talent and investment perspective, as we end up losing out on potentially immense talent for the nation, and at the same time, it defeats the purpose of investing so much at a grassroots level,” emphasised Pradhyum Reddy, CEO of Dempo SC.
The Stay Your Age Cup Initiative
That was the core reason all the aforementioned personalities came together to form the Stay Your Age Cup.
The Stay Your Age Cup 2024, which took place from 11 to 19 September 2024, saw players from six teams, RFYC, FC Goa, Bengaluru FC, Dempo SC, FC Madras, and the Mizoram Football Association (MFA), undergo a rigorous document verification process. All teams received access to player documents for a smoother and fairer tournament.
The tournament is not the ultimate solution but a hopeful step in the right direction taken by those who influence Indian Football. These clubs came together to organise it not just to raise awareness around the overarching issue of age fraud but also to highlight the importance of prioritising long-term development over short-term success.
“There is such an emphasis on achieving success at all levels, even in domestic club football in India. And let’s be honest here: success at the U15 level does not translate into anything else in one’s career unless one builds from it. So, a fundamental issue that exists is this notion and the need to want to win at all costs at all levels. That is sort of the mindset that we need to break,” said a Reliance Foundation official.
“Yearning for success at the highest levels like the first team comes with the job, but what we would like to do and begin doing ourselves is also to emphasise the growth and development of talent in the younger levels, and not focus on just results and wins.”
So, what more can be done to aid the sport’s growth? One possible course of action could be the advent of baby leagues, which would make it difficult to cheat. If systems with progressive age groups at every level exist, one can hope that it would be a positive way to combat age fraud and slowly chip away at it.
We can also personally contribute by understanding that one must not rush to blame the athletes alone for age fraud. It is essential to understand the power dynamics between an athlete, their guardian/parents, their coach, and, in other cases, the clubs, who stand to gain from the same.
Future Directions for Growth
Perhaps the emphasis could be placed on positive reinforcement rather than punishment, something that the Mizoram FA has understood and embodied.
In June, the Mizoram Football Association (MFA) launched a new mechanism to address the prevalent issue of age fraud: an Amnesty Programme designed to forgive players with falsified age-related documentation. The programme aims to promote fair play and inclusivity in the sport.
Players indulging in age fraud were encouraged to come forward and confess to the fraudulent activity anonymously so that they could be reissued certificates corrected to their actual age. Hence, these players were given another chance to compete again with no other jarring repercussions—in the words of Pradhyum Reddy himself, positive reinforcement in action.
“We are not creating an exclusive league (Stay Your Age Cup) for our own selves. If someone copies this model in Punjab or Shillong and gets clubs from there, more power to them. We are merely setting a template to help youth football grow in India. If this blossoms into something big, that would be incredible,” stated Reddy.
“These structures already exist in other sports in India, so why not football?”
Why not, indeed?
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