CHENNAI: As many as 51 athletes were found to be over-aged while 189 ran away to avoid medical examinations during the national inter-district junior athletics meet held in Tirupati from November 23 to 25.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has served ultimatum to respective state associations of these errant athletes asking them to get these youngsters tested by December 24 or else they will be banned from participating in future age-group events.
More than 4,500 boys and girls from 494 districts competed in the U-14 and U-16 age-groups during the 17th edition held at the Tarakarama Stadium in Sri Venkateswara University campus in Tirupati. The AFI touted the event as the largest talent search programme in a single discipline.
Age verification tests conducted by the AFI included dental examination and Tanner-Whitehouse 3 (TW3) or bone test wherein a digital X-ray of the left hand (palm and wrist) is taken to determine the bone age.
"We first shortlisted athletes, who appeared to be over-aged by their appearances and handed them declaration forms. Among those who turned up for both the tests, 51 were found to be over-aged. As many as 65 left the venue after dental examination. A total of 124 youngsters skipped both the tests fearing detection of their real age," Rajiv Khatri, AFI’s in-charge for age verification of athletes, told this daily.
"Dental examination is never conclusive so the TW3 procedure was adopted. It comprises detailed analysis of the two most important bones in TW3: the radius and ulna wrist bones. The digital result helped us calculate age of an athlete," Khatri added.
State associations may escape punishment
In its annual general meeting in Agra earlier this year, the AFI had proposed to suspend secretary of the association if more than two of its athletes were found to be over-aged in a national meet. However, the office-bearers from errant state units might escape the punishment.
"It was proposed in the AGM but hasn’t been made a regulation yet. Implementing it with retrospective effect, if it becomes a rule in future, is something the AFI has to decide," Divesh Bhal, a member of AFI’s Competition Committee, said. The federation has already started biometric registration of athletes to check the age-fudging.
All the athletes, who registered for the Tirupati meet, were given unique IDs followed by biometric registration. “We’ll revise the results now and block biometric cards of errant athletes if they do not appear for test. These athletes, if their biometric cards are blocked, will not be able to take part in future age-group events,” added Bhal.Rajasthan topped the list with 15 of their athletes failing the age test followed by Uttar Pradesh with 10.
| State units | No of athletes |
| Rajasthan | 15 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 10 |
| Jharkhand & MP | 5 |
| Bihar & Haryana | 3 |
Note: 2 athletes each from Maharashtra and Telangana failed the tests while an athlete each from Delhi, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Punjab and Puducherry were found to be over-aged.