AIFF conducts age verification tests for U-16 footballers

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has conducted an age verification test in Kolkata for its regional academy footballers ahead of the U-16 SAFF Championship slated to kick start in Kathmandu on July 20.
All the 35 footballers of the academy have successfully passed the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test which scanned the players' wrists plates to verify their proper age. It was done under the supervision of Dr. Sandeep Kumar, Medical Consultant of AIFF.
"I am extremely pleased that all of our boys cleared the MRI examinations. I think it reinforces AIFF's tough stance on age cheating. We went through testing at the National Championships to ensure all players selected for the Pailan Academy were of the correct age," Scott O'Donell, Technical Director of AIFF Academies, said.

O'Donell, who is also the Director for Coach Education, feels that these players now can fully focus on the preparation for the upcoming SAFF Championships.
"The boys have been working extremely hard over the last few months and it would have been a shame if that hard work had gone to waste had any of the boys been found overage," he added.