Administrator’s Cup now in November last week

After postponing the Chandigarh Marathon, the UT Sports Department now plans to conduct the 20th edition of the UT Administrator’s All India Football Cup in the last week of November. The event was to be held in September earlier.

It was cancelled last year for the first time in its’ 19-year history owing to a controversy after a parent moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking medical test of players. Hearing the plea, the High Court had ordered that ossification test be conducted on all players in absence of the Tanner-Whitehouse 3 (TW3) medical assessment.

“We have started the modalities for conducting the event in the last week of November,” said Sourabh Kumar Arora, Director, Sports, UT. However, there’s no confirmation if the ossification or TW3 test will be made mandatory or not. “We are yet to finalise all the mandatory things. This will be discussed with the experts,” he added.

On court orders last year, the department had requested the authorities of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, and Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, to conduct the test on 340 players (representing 17 teams). However, the tournament had to be cancelled over time constraints.

Later, the court reportedly decided the case in the favour of the department. In the history of the tournament, the organisers never conducted ossification or TW3 test, and still manage to spot overage players. In many editions, entire teams were disqualified after more than four players were found overage. Before the start of the tournament, a medical board consisting of doctors and specialists from city’s government hospitals is constituted.

The invitational tournament, which is not even directly affiliated to the All India Football Federation (AIFF), aims to encourage footballers in under-17 category. The tournament doesn’t serve the purpose of making the players or winners eligible for government jobs, state cash awards or even gradation for taking admissions.

“Not all academies have resources to conduct ossification of TW3 tests of their players. If the department puts this condition, only a few teams will turn up for the event. Conducting ossification test on all players is not possible,” said a senior coach.

Ossification test involves examining X-rays of certain bones in the body, specifically the clavicle, sternum and pelvis to determine the degree of ossification. By examining the results, doctors can estimate a person's age. Last year, after the court’s order, the tests conducted had a mixed of results, and the same was informed to the players as well as their respective team managements.