BCCI brings in additional measures to tackle age, domicile fraud in cricket; players with fake, tampered birth certificates to be banned for 2 years

File Photo (Reuters)

New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday (August 3, 2020) adopted additional measures to counter the menace of age and domicile fraud in cricket.

These measures will be applicable to all cricketers participating in the BCCI age-group tournaments from season 2020-21 onwards.

The governing body for the sport of cricket in India that is responsible to ensure that appropriate checks and protocols are put in place for competitive participation of players in its age-group tournaments, adopted the below mentioned additional measures.

1. Voluntary Disclosure Scheme for players who are already registered: Under this scheme, players who voluntarily declare that they have manipulated their date of birth by submitting fake/tampered documents in the past will not be suspended and allowed to participate in the appropriate age group level if they disclose their actual date of birth (DOB).

Players have to submit a signed letter/email along with supporting documents to the BCCI Age Verification Dept. revealing their actual DOB before September 15, 2020.

However, if registered players do not disclose the facts and are found to have submitted fake/tampered DOB proof documents by BCCI, then they will be banned for 2 years, and after completion of the 2-year suspension, they will not be allowed to participate in age group tournaments of BCCI, as well as, age-group tournaments organized by the State Units.

2. Season 2020-21 onwards, any player submitting fake/tampered birth certificate will be banned for 2 years from all cricket matches under the aegis of BCCI & State Units. After completion of the 2-year suspension, such players will not be allowed to participate in age group tournaments of BCCI, as well as, age-group tournaments organized by State Units.

3. All Cricketers committing Domicile fraud, including Senior Men & Women, will be banned for 2 years. Voluntary Disclosure Scheme does not apply for cricketers who have committed domicile fraud.

4. For the BCCI Under-16 age-group tournament, only players who are between 14-16 years old will be permitted to register.

5. In the Under-19 age group, if a player’s birth is found to be registered more than 2 years after birth, as mentioned in the birth certificate, then there will be restrictions on the number of years allowed to participate in the BCCI Under-19 tournaments.

Talking about the additional measures, India's former skipper and current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly expressed, “We are committed to providing a level-playing field across all age groups. The BCCI has been taking steps to counter age fraud and are now introducing even stricter measures from the upcoming domestic season. Those who do not voluntarily disclose their misdemeanour will be punished heavily and will be banned for two years.”

National Cricket Academy's Head Cricket Rahul Dravid said, “Age fraud is a serious matter and is detrimental to the health of the sport. Many youngsters who are supposed to be playing in a particular age group fail to make it owing to age fraud. With the BCCI taking stern actions to curb this, it is only advisable for the players to come forward and abide by the directives issued by the Board.”