Eight teams have been banned from the All-India Football Federation’s Boys U-13 Football Festival starting in Chennai tomorrow for fielding overage players in the team. Jharkhand (three players overage), Jammu and Kashmir (four), Orissa (six), Rajasthan (six), Mizoram (nine), Bengal (three), Punjab (four) and Uttar Pradesh (three) have been sent home and subsidies for participation, train fare and food allowances have been withdrawn, Shaji Prabhakaran, director of Vision India, a Development Project of the AFC, told PTI.
“The respective state associations have to be proactive. We are taking strict measures in dealing with such cases and then progressively this problem will be eradicated. We are making a database as per the guidelines of the Asian Football Confederation, under whose rules the festival is being held. A team of 14 boys will be selected from this event to compete in the AFC U-13 tournament in Bangladesh from 1-8 May,” Mr Prabhakaran said.
“The respective state associations have to be proactive. We are taking strict measures in dealing with such cases and then progressively this problem will be eradicated. We are making a database as per the guidelines of the Asian Football Confederation, under whose rules the festival is being held. A team of 14 boys will be selected from this event to compete in the AFC U-13 tournament in Bangladesh from 1-8 May,” Mr Prabhakaran said.