The true champions are not measured only by the medals, but by the equity of their trip | Photo credit: nico_blue
Age fraud in Indian sports is not an accident, it is a systemic defect. For years, the system has encouraged dishonesty, allowing those who manipulate their age prosper while genuine athletes are marginalized. The files are marked: derailled races, junior competitions dominated by landing players, and India’s position on the global scenario Socavó.
The draft of the National Government Code against Age Fraud in Sports (NCAAFS) 2025 is a step in the right direction. The policy, published for public comments of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, describes a very necessary reform agenda. But without the digital application, the biometric safeguards and significant couples, run the risk of following the path of well -intentioned previous codes understood under paper and silent.
The draft of the code still relies on non -verifiable and easily manipulated documents: school certificates, handwritten transfers, jurized orphanage statements. In a country where identity records can be forged by a few hundred rupees, that is not a beginning.
On the other hand, India should take advantage of its digital-to-adhaar, digilocker and birth certificates linked to QR certificates verifiable by age verification. Only those documents that can be obtained and digitally verified through safe API must be accepted. No physical storage. Without photocopies. There are no intermediaries.
Add digital verification based on fingerprints at the athlete registration point, similar to KYC on bank, can eliminate handling. The machines do not take bribes; Humans do it.
Data architecture
Digital systems must balance transparency with privacy. The policy must require compliance with the Law on Digital Data Protection of India (2023) and adopt a consent model, such as the one that is already successful in the financial sector.
A central sports data authority, a neutral platform that allows safe access and promoted by consent to athlete data, is needed. As well as the framework of the account aggregator is transforming the portability of financial data, a similar model in sports would ensure that athletes maintain control of their information, while federations obtain the reliability they need.
The draft includes prohibitions and FIR for repeat offenders, but deterrence requires more hard institutional repercussions. That means: athletes who date back to the athletes declared guilty of fraud of the age of all government works, including sports quotas positions on the railroads, PSU and paramilitary forces; The mandatory biometric controls in recruitment to eliminate fraudulent age claims in the hiring stage; and link the sports subsidies of the central government with the adoption at the state level of national policy, a carrot and stick approach that could boost uniformity in all states.
Medical Verification
The draft proposes an integral analysis of the medical-TW3 tests of the bone age, the dental controls, the magnetic resonances, but a smarter and more gradual approach would be more effective: (i) begins with manual radiographs/Wist driven by AI for the initial detection; (ii) Dental and anthropometric controls intensify for any atypical brave; And (iii) reserve Mris only for persistent discrepancies. This approach is more human and more precise: minimizing false positives and ensuring that only really suspicious cases go through invasive procedures.
Trying to implement these reforms in all sports at the same time is a recipe for chaos. Instead, throw a pilot in a sport, say hockey, and build from there. Use this controlled deployment to refine the system, collect comments and build institutional muscle.
The draft of the Ministry Code is a commendable beginning, but only policy won the fraud of the final age. The real test lies in the execution. With the scaffolding of the reform now in its place, India must pivot a digital system first based on data that values integrity as Fieraria as victory. True champions do not measure themselves only by medals, but by the equity of their trip. The system must finally reflect that truth.
The writer is a technological entrepreneur and former managing director of CGI India
Posted on April 21, 2025
