In order to prevent age fraud in sports and ensure fair play, pending formulation of a national code, the government has issued detailed guidelines to all sports federations/associations/bodies so that overage players are not allowed to participate in national and other championships.
The ministry of youth affairs & sports, in its communication sent to the president/secretary general of IOA and all national and state sports federations and director general of SAI, has advised them to treat age fraud on the same lines as anti-doping offences since both amount to cheating and violate the basic spirit of sport.
The ministry’s communication states: “In the recent past, incidents of age fraud committed by athletes in some major tournaments and selection trials have come to the notice of the government, which is a matter of serious concern. In order to ensure fair play, it is imperative that stringent action is taken against athletes found guilty of committing age fraud and also against their abettors.
“(The) government has therefore decided that all sports federations/associations /bodies should take appropriate measures to check age fraud on the same lines as anti-doping measures as both amounts to cheating and is violative of the basic spirit of sport.”
“Pending formulation of the code, all national sports federations are advised to adopt the following broad principles to ensure that overage players are not allowed to participate in national and other championships and are not included in national teams participating in international sports competitions, the letter adds.
The principles are as follows:
(1) National sports federations should introduce a system of issuing identity cards to national athletes, which should inter-alia contain name, photograph, signature and date of birth of the player, date of issue of the identity card and its validity period.
(2) The Federations should lay down a clear policy with regard to submission of documents for the purpose of age verification such as birth certificates, passport, school certificate etc. The identity card containing the date of birth of the player should be issued only after the federation has fully satisfied itself about the age of player.
(3) The federation should maintain an exhaustive and diligent record of the age along with proof of age of athletes who have participated in the annual national championships and other tournaments conducted by it. Each federation shall be required to maintain a national register of athletes with state-wise details, which will be a public document.
(4) The federation should conduct random age verification at regular intervals on the basis of the records maintained by it.
(5) The federation should resort to medical examination of an athlete whenever any doubt arises with regards the age of an athlete on account of his or her physical appearance, receipt of any complaint or any other valid ground, which should duly communicated to the athlete.
(6) The medical tests relating to age verification and medical procedures adopted for this purpose should be duly notified by the Federation and made known to all athletes.
(7) The federation should notify in advance the list of empanelled hospitals for conduct of age related medical tests. The hospitals should be chosen on the basis of highest standards and credibility. Preference should be given to government hospitals meeting these requirements.
(8) If an athlete contests the findings of the medical test in question, it would be incumbent upon the Federation to arrange for an re-examination, preferably at a reputed Government hospital.
(9) In the event of conclusive proof that an athlete has committed age fraud, he or she should be banned from participating in any sporting event for a period of 2 years on the first detection and for five years on any subsequent detection.
The ministry has also advised all state governments to adopt the procedures.
It states further that the production of athlete identity card for participation in national and state competitions should be made mandatory with effect from 01.2.2010.
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