Mumbai Cricket Association Suspends 16 Players For Age-Fudging
May 4, 2017 at 12:20 PM
Acting tough on the age -fudging attempt by cricketers, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has banned as many as 16 players across various age groups (under-14, 16, 19 and 23) from participating in summer vacation camps and tournaments.
As per reports in The Mid-Day, the players were caught producing fake birth certificates which contradicted their other documents like school leaving certificates and mark sheets. Initially, 26 players had come under the scanner but later 16 were caught attempting to conceal their age.
The guilty players along with their parents have been summoned to the cricket body on Monday (may 3). The MCA, meanwhile, is also set to further examine the documents. Till then, the players have been barred from playing in any local cricket activities, according to MCA Jt Hon Secretary Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar.
The report claimed that the guilty players could be handed the severe punishment of a two-year ban.
“One player produced a document to prove that he is in Class VII. The same cricketer had earlier submitted a certificate to indicate he is in Class IX. Last year, we discovered some players were over-aged when we began selecting the Mumbai under-19 team,” Vice-president Vinod Deshpande is quoted as saying by the news outlet.
“Age-fudging is a major cause of decay in Mumbai cricket. It is not fair to other players who adopt fair means to pursue their cricketing careers. This is a serious issue and we need to find a permanent solution to stop this,” said MCA managing committee member Ramesh Vazge.
The menace of age-fudging in Indian cricket has been prevailing since a long time. In 2015, the BCCI had barred 22 cricketers of Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) including Nitish Rana from taking part in the age-group cricket tournaments on the allegations of age-fudging. One year later, the Indian cricket board had suspended seven senior women cricketers and 12 Under-19 players of Odisha for one year.