Age Fraud Committee member urges BAI to act against over-aged players in All India badminton tournaments

The rampant age fraud practices in India are not new. This has been happening for the last couple of decades now. Over the last few years, it has been steadily increasing.

The peak was probably reached at the All India Sub Junior Under-13 Ranking Badminton tournament, which was held in Hyderabad from June 19 to 25.

It is alleged that nearly 50 percent of the total participants were over-aged, which took the entire Indian badminton fraternity by storm. Sportskeeda broke the news a couple of days ago and highlighted the large-scale age fraud happening in the tournament taking place in Hyderabad.

Taking a serious note on the proceedings at the Chetan Anand Sports Centre in Hyderabad, one of the members of the Age Fraud Committee wrote a letter to the Badminton Association of India (BAI) chief on Saturday.

BAI formed a seven-member age fraud committee last month after its elections where Himanta Biswa Sarma was re-elected as the president.

KK Sharma, joint secretary of BAI, is the chairman, while Surinder Mahajan, joint secretary of BAI, is the convener of the committee.

Goa-based Sandeep Heble is a member of the newly-formed BAI Age Fraud Committee and desires to curb this menace as soon as possible.

Heble, who is also the secretary of the Goa Badminton Association (GCA), has transcribed the letter and marked it to BAI president Himanta Biswa Sarma.

A copy of the letter has also been marked to secretary Sanjay Mishra, National Coach Pullela Gopichand, Age Fraud Committee Chairman KK Sharma, and affiliated member units of the BAI.

Heble has also requested BAI top brass to carry out an immediate investigation into the matter. He also demanded an urgent meeting of the Age Fraud Committee to deal with the issue.

Heble said that if this over-age issue is unchecked now, it will continue unabated for the rest of the season. He also pointed out that this age-cheating problem is giving negative publicity to BAI and showing the national governing body of the sport in a bad light.

Letter from Sandeep Heble to BAI president Himanta Biswa Sarma

The text of the letter is given below:

This is with reference to the large-scale age frauds that are purportedly taking place in tournaments, organized by or under the aegis of the Badminton Association of India.

While such age frauds have been reported in the past and there have also been petitions and High Court Orders directing the Badminton Association of India to take appropriate action on the matter, it is observed that such malpractices continue unabated with no adequate measures put in place nor any stringent actions taken to put to an end such malpractices.

The Sub Junior (U13) All India Badminton Ranking Tournament, currently underway in Hyderabad, Telangana, is yet another instance where parents have complained of large-scale age fraud.

Verification of records of participating players reveals that a substantial number of players participating in the Under 13 category have not submitted authentic birth certificates, but have produced medical certificates to make them eligible to play.

As stated by the International Olympic Committee and affirmed by the Supreme Court of India's rulings on such matters, medical certificates are not a foolproof mechanism to establish accuracy of the date of birth.

Still, it is seen that the BAI registration process permits submission of such a document to allow participation of overage players in tournaments - which is a very lenient and casual approach towards a very serious issue of age fraud and cheating.

Efforts by our Hon. President, National Coach, Coaching Team, and Badminton Association of India Team over the last many years have resulted in popularizing badminton across India, and have seen Indian athletes win several laurels on the world stage, including the recent historic Thomas Cup gold. Sanjay Mishra ji, we now have a very modest and sincere General Secretary who has been a sportsperson, a National Masters Champion and a former World Masters Badminton Champion himself.

Thus, I write this with utmost sincerity and with strong hope for the new BAI Team, with a strong belief that it will tackle this age fraud issue which has been the very bane of Indian Sports.

While sports is all about honesty, integrity and fair play, ironically, the present system rewards wrongdoers and penalizes the law abiding citizens and honest participants thereby bringing disrepute to the game.

As a result, law-abiding parents and their children are becoming extremely disheartened and disillusioned with the whole system that allows dishonesty and cheating to prevail over truth and sincerity.

The prevalence of such age frauds, often with the blessings of parents, coaches and academies, moreover sends a very wrong signal to children at a young age that cheating is a very acceptable and rewarding part of life. Are these the moral lessons we ought to give to our players, who are supposed to be the future of our country?

In view of the above, BAI is requested to take immediate cognizance of various complaints that have been made by parents in the Hyderabad tournament, and media reports that have highlighted the large-scale age fraud happening at the ongoing tournament, which if unchecked, will continue unabated for the rest of the season.

It is requested that an immediate investigation be carried out into the matter, and an urgent meeting of the age fraud committee be called to deal with the issue, which is giving negative publicity to BAI and projecting our wonderful organization and the game of badminton in a bad light.

Falsification of documents is a criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code and the time has now come to take a series of stringent steps to end this menace once and for all.

I have marked a copy of all the member units who I believe are necessary parties in the matter and an issue as huge as this will need all of us to be in this and fight it together.