The Elephant In The Room: Sandesh Jhingan Addresses Age Fraud in Indian Football

FC Goa defender Sandesh Jhingan recently shared his personal experience with age fraud in football and the detrimental effects it can have on players. He emphasized how age fraud can damage players' confidence and lead to self-doubt, particularly during the crucial stages of their development in the sport. Speaking at the Stay Your Age U-15 football tournament in Navi Mumbai, Jhingan highlighted the negative impact of playing against overage opponents on youth players. He recounted his own encounters with age fraud and how it affected his mindset on the field. Jhingan's insights shed light on the challenges faced by young footballers due to age fraud and the importance of maintaining fair play in the sport. His experience serves as a reminder of the need for integrity and honesty in youth football competitions.

"This needs to stop. The age fraud thing has been an elephant in the room for so many years. During my younger days, in the U-15 and the U-17 times, we always knew there was someone who was older but playing in our age group. I have many times felt that I was not good enough, because that boy was stronger, faster, and more mature than me, but all of that was only because he was older than me,” Jhingan said.

"At that age, when you are that young, even a difference of two years makes a massive difference in terms of the quality that you produce on the pitch. Luckily, I kept going and believing in myself. It needs to be stopped. It's so sad that it still happens. It's not just in football, but in all sports, all across the world. I think this needs to stop big time. I am really happy that all the clubs and the Reliance Foundation are coming together to solve this problem," he added.

The Stay Your Age Cup saw players from six teams; RFYC, FC Goa, Bengaluru FC, Dempo SC, FC Madras, and Mizoram Football Association (MFA) go through a rigorous document verification process, with all teams getting access to player documents for a smoother and fairer tournament.

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The teams competed in five matches each in a league system format.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)