Age fraud allegation hits U-13 badminton; over 60% participants overaged

The age-old menace of Indian sports, age fraud, has once again reared its ugly head, this time allegedly at the Yonex-Sunrise All-India Sub-junior U-13 ranking badminton tournament which concluded in Hyderabad on Saturday.

"There are lots of players who are overage, and not by six months or so but by a lot. More than 60 per cent of the participants are overage," alleged a coach of a Khelo India accredited academy.

The coach further alleged that the amount of age fraud cases has increased - perhaps due to the fact that the badminton domestic circuit is only now getting back to its full swing following the Covid-19 pandemic - and said that many of the players have multiple date of births.

"Of course birth certificate fudging is there but many are playing after submitting medical certificate, rather than birth certificate, to the BAI (Badminton Association of India)," the coach said.

According to the rules, a player can play for a year without submitting the authentic birth certificate after registration with the BAI if they produce medical certificate. Medical certificate for age confirmation has been proven to be inaccurate.

The matter, it has been learned, has been escalated to the BAI, with Sandeep Heble, a member of the Age Fraud Committee, sending a letter to the top officials in the national federation.

"The letter has already been sent to BAI authorities. This is happening with the support of higher-ups in the system, it's a racket promoted by many academies and State associations," he charged.

The Age Fraud Committee is currently looking for solutions for the issue, and one among them is to have their panel members at tournament venues to scrutinise entries.

It has been learned that BAI Secretary General Sanjay Mishra has asked the referee to take undertakings from parents and players for the upcoming tournament in Mohali, saying action would be taken if found guilty.

"We are taking undertakings from parents and players, and if we find any evidence of problems in the BAI investigation, the BAI can take strict action. We are getting some evidence against a few players," confirmed Mishra.

"We are restarting after two years so that issue is there as well. The U-11 tournaments are starting soon and we will have a challenge there as well. Even if one player gets through (via age fraud), that person can cause problem for the rest of the players for 8-9 years, until the U-19 level," Mishra added.