Age fraud in sports selection comes down drastically, thanks to technology

HYDERABAD: Age frauds that generally take place in sports selections for various categories came down drastically, though not totally done away with, thanks to advanced technology, according to officials.

Age fraud in sports is commonly witnessed. A few participants who crossed the age for participating in the ‘under 18’ category, in the district level or the state level competitions, produce fake age certificates. Though the selection committees have time to verify the certificates, these fraudulent candidates manage to get selected.

Many of them take part in underage categories of various events, which make them eligible for sports reservations category in educational institutions and in government or semi government jobs. However, technical advancements brought down such frauds drastically.

Kaliyuga Chary, a retired coach at Sports Authority of India, said, “When a senior category participant takes part in a junior category event, he definitely gets an age advantage. Many succeeded in this malpractice as they got the fake age proofs from schools, colleges and even from the municipal offices earlier. Even now, many manipulate the Aadhaar details for age tampering.”

Omkar Yadav, Indian boxing coach, said, “Whenever we come across such suspicious cases, we have a team of medical practitioners, who can make out their age by looking at the teeth or bone size. X-ray is another good source to trace the age.”

Norman Isaac, chairman, technical commission, Basketball Federation of India, said, “Under 16 are eligible for youth and under 18 years are eligible to participate in junior nationals. These are the categories where most of the age frauds take place. Here many do not show data of institutional baby deliveries. Their age proof certificates are enrolled many years after their birth.”

“The federation has taken a decision to accept certificates which are enrolled with the government agencies before they turn five,” he added.