In an underwhelming episode, Nagaland has been disqualified from the Sub Junior (U-14) Boys’ tournament in the 62nd edition of the Subroto Cup Inter School International Football Tournament following the detection of overage players in the team. Nagaland, along with 14 other teams, has been disqualified from the Tournament where a total of 126 players were tested in which 87 players failed the test and 34 players cleared the test.
The situation came to light following a Skeletal Age Estimation Test which was conducted on Sunday to ensure compliance with the regulations of the Tournament and the criteria set by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). It has been informed that Greenwood Higher Secondary School, Dimapur (Greenwood School Khelo India Centre, Nagaland), represented Nagaland in the tournament and was placed in Group F for the group stages.
Speaking to Nagaland Tribune, Kethosituo Sekhose, Director of Youth Resource and Sports stated that the incident was not intentional.
“In Nagaland, we don’t do Skeletal Estimation test while sending our children to schools. We just follow the Adhaar and Certificates identity card provided by the parents, so that was our draw back,” said Sekhose who clarified that their certificates were not tampered.
Another set back of the team, according to Sekhose, was the failure to conduct the Skeletal Age Estimation Test which they were not aware. When asked if there is any such testing facility in Nagaland, Sekhose replied, “I am also not sure because this is the first time I am hearing about this.”
Mention may also be made that the team were tested in different labs with differing results, however the final decision was made through the Skeletal Age estimation test.
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Wake up call for everyone in Nagaland.
According to Sekhose, “the issue is a wake up call for everyone in Nagaland.” With the tampering of one’s age in their official birth documents being a common case in Nagaland, the incident proves to be a warning to many Nagas.
“The issue of birth certificate should be tightened and strengthened because the children who went to participate, all their documentation were in order but were still found to be at fault,” said Sekhose.
“As far as the state government is concerned, we are taking this up in all seriousness and we will be putting in place checks and balances in the days to come,” affirmed Sekhose.
A skeletal age estimation is an assessment/test of skeletal maturity conducted to determine the age of an individual. It is often used in sports to tackle the menace of age fraud.
