By IANS,
Chandigarh : Fourteen more players have been banned from participating in the Administrator’s Challenge Football Cup after a medical board found them overage for the under-17 tournament, following the 16 banned earlier for the same reason.
“Fourteen more players were banned late Tuesday evening taking the total of banned players in this tournament to 30. They have been declared overaged by the medical board constituted by the Chandigarh Sports Department,” J.S. Negi, convenor of the tournament and district sports officer Chandigarh, told IANS Wednesday.
“It is not new in the history of Indian sports. Earlier we have had many cases of overage players. In their own age groups these players stand nowhere and they try to take advantage by producing fake date of birth certificates,” said J.S. Sidhu, joint director Sports of Chandigarh.
As per the rules of Sports authority of India (SAI), these players can be banned only from playing in this tournament. Now it is up to their respective clubs or academies to take disciplinary action against them, Sidhu said.
“This tournament is approved by All India Football Federation (AIFF) and we follow their prescribed rules and regulations. Teams from different places like Punjab, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Mizoram are participating in this tournament,” said Sidhu.
The banned players are from Mohun Bagan, Sail Football Academy of West Bengal, Orissa Football Association, Chandigarh Football Academy, Tamil Nadu Football Association, Himachal Pradesh Football Association, Madhya Pradesh Football Association, Delhi Soccer Association and Punjab Football Association, he stated.
Administrator’s Challenge Cup is a national level football tournament for under-17 boys, in which 21 teams from different states participate. Chandigarh administrator and Punjab Governor Gen. (Retd) S.F. Rodrigues inaugurated the first match of the tournament at Sector 17 football stadium Sep 1.