Goa tainted by overage allegations

Spectators lined the stands of the Ambedkar Stadium for the quarter-final league match between Goa and NCC Bengal and Sikkim of the Subroto Cup.

Spectators lined the stands of the Ambedkar Stadium for the quarter-final league match between Goa and NCC Bengal and Sikkim of the Subroto Cup. But the 2-0 victory for the NCC team didn8217;t reflect the expected competition as the Goans escaped a bigger loss. Goa coach Sebastiao Noronha blamed the absence of key players Marshall Fernandez and Sameer Arjun Pendenkar for the result, who were left out after failing medical tests. Sebastio lashed out at the organisers, accusing them of lack of transparency.

8220;Marshall and Sameer are our senior players. But this year, the organisers didn8217;t allow them to play saying they were overage. I have brought medical certificates and reports from Goa that are proof enough. A bigger proof is these players8217; participation in the U-14 category of Subroto Cup 2005. The organisers stopped the boys seconds before kick-off. The team list is submitted almost a couple of hours before the match,8221; said Sebastio.

Arijit Ghosh, secretary of the Subroto Mukherjee Sports Education Society, said that all the teams were made aware of the medical check-ups going into the matches which would overrule any other medical report carried by the team management. 8220;This year we have a panel of three doctors, including a radiologist, and this has been employed to counter such cases. We also have a set of preliminary assessments failing which a player is subjected to the next set of assessments. These two players Marshall and Sameer from Goa failed both the stages and hence were not allowed participation. This applies to every player and we don8217;t have any interest in denying any of the youngsters. As far as transparency is concerned, I can give him Sebastio the reports any time he wants it. The management was informed about the discrepancy through a letter long before the match. In such cases, their participation in 20058217;s u-14 category doesn8217;t count as they might have been a few days short of the age cap,8221; said Ghosh.

Interestingly, as many as seven players were ousted from the Goa U-14 team last year due to overage allegations while two players from the U-17 category failed the tests. 8220;They came prepared this time with all the reports and certificates. This year we have three specialists. So there8217;s nothing more we can do to crosscheck,8221; added Ghosh.