NEW DELHI: If you google “age fraud in Indian football“, you’ll find countless entries, articles, short-form, long-form, evidence-driven ones, written by countless writers, journalists, and observers of the beautiful game of football.
One can find the news of the Indian under-15 football team’s captain turning out to be almost eighteen months over the age limit for the Asian under-16 championship in April 2019 or an under-17 player initially rejected by coach Nicolai Adam for his “unnatural height” at age 14 was later accepted into the team under Luis Norton de Matos, everything is already so well-documented.
While age fraud remains a persistent issue in Indian football, we should now be looking for a more permanent and accurate solution to fight it.
And it should begin early, from the grassroots level of Indian football, like the Subroto Cup, an annual school football tournament held in India, named after Subroto Mukerjee, the founder of the Air India Football Club. The prestigious tournament, established in 1960, was once graced by players like Baichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri and will enter its 63rd edition on August 5.

Aimed at promoting the sport at the grassroots level, it will host a jaw-dropping 111 teams across three categories, with the sub-junior (under-15) category introduced for the first time this year. It will also have some teams from foreign countries too.
To fight the demon of age fraud, the organizers are going to implement the skeleton bone test for the tournament, offering a promising solution to address this issue effectively.

During the opening press conference of the Subroto Cup, TimesofIndia.com raised concerns about age fraud. Answering, an Air Force Sports Control Board (AFSCB) spokesperson stated, “All and every footballer (who will be participating in the Subroto Cup) is registered on the AIFF website. And each of them gets a unique code. We also want to avoid age fraud. As per the AIFF guidelines, a skeleton bone test will be done for the under-15 boys category. For the under-17 category, it will be normal medical. The skeleton bone test or the age-detection test will all be done under the guidelines of AIFF.”
What is a skeleton bone test?
The skeleton bone test, commonly known as a bone age assessment, estimates a person’s age, especially in children and adolescents, by analyzing their bones.
This process typically involves taking an X-ray of the left hand and wrist, as this area contains bones that undergo predictable developmental changes with age. The X-ray is then compared to standard reference images, such as those in the Greulich-Pyle Atlas, to determine the bone’s developmental stage, including the appearance of growth plates and the fusion of epiphyses.
It is understood that 22 teams in the under-14 category were disqualified and did not participate in the Subroto Cup after failing the age-determination test last time. According to AIFF guidelines, if four or more players from a team are found to be over-aged, that team will be immediately disqualified and barred from the tournament.
“Apart from that, all the players who have already registered through AIFF and CRS (central registration system), have their age verified. The people who are coming are less in numbers. So, in times to come, age fraud, which is prevalent in football, is likely to reduce,” he ended on a positive note, sounding hopeful, as we all are, of a better future.