AIFF to probe Mukhi in age-fudging case
NEWDELHI:THE All India Football Federation on Tuesday said its players’ status committee will investigate the allegations of age “discrepancy” against Jamshedpur FC’S Gourav Mukhi, who has been declared the youngest scorer of the ongoing Indian Super League (ISL). The ISL claimed that Mukhi, at 16, was the youngest ever to score in the tournament’s history when he found the net against Bengaluru FC on Sunday.
The debate over the forward’s age began instantly, thanks to his moustache and well-built physique.
“We will pass on the matter to the relevant committees – the players status committee first or the disciplinary committee to look into the discrepancy regarding his age,” AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told PTI on Tuesday.
“The discrepancy is regarding his passport which shows that he is 2002 born and a statement he issued in 2015 which stated that he is 1999 born,” Das added.
The player was caught for agefraud in 2015 during a national championship, after which the AIFF suspended the Jharkhand coach for one year and slapped a fine of Rs one lakh on the association. The Central Registration System (CRS) was introduced in India in 2016, and Das said Mukhi’s background was updated on CRS based on the supporting documents provided by the player, which is the norm. The CRS which registers
in-detailed information of every single player for AIFF was not implemented for the National Championships and the state associations in 2015, but later in 2016.