Subroto Cup: Regina Mundi disqualified after players fail to clear age test

Panaji: Regina Mundi High School, Chicalim, are among the 20-odd disqualified teams after several players failed to clear the age determination test at the 64th Subroto Cup for Sub Junior Boys (U-15) in Bengaluru.
Regina Mundi had punched their ticket to Bengaluru after they defeated Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School, Arambol, on penalties. They were excited at the prospect of challenging some of the best schools from across the country, but were eventually left heartbroken as eight of the 16 players failed the test.
According to tournament rules, if four or more players from a particular team are found overaged, the team will not be permitted to participate. In case of three or less overaged players, the team can participate without the players, who are left out of the tournament.
Test results under the Skeletal Maturity Determination Program Guidelines, approved by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) showed players just above the stipulated age. Six of the eight players were shown to be aged between 15.4 and 15.5 while only one player was adjudged to be 16 years of age.
“There were 20-odd schools who were disqualified, including the (invited) school from Sri Lanka,” one official told TOI. “Earlier, tests were randomly conducted but this time around, they tested all the players. We were not informed, otherwise we would have done the tests in Goa itself and taken other players. All the hard work of our players has gone in vain. The players are heartbroken.”
The Subroto Cup has grappled with age-related issues in the past. In 2023, 126 players were tested of which 87 failed, leading to the disqualification of 15 teams due to overage players. Tests are done with an X-ray of the left-hand wrist, based on which the skeletal maturity age is determined.
The Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) which conducts the popular Subroto Cup annually since 1960 has said they are committed to fair play.
Goa has never had problems with overage players.
According to sources, Regina Mundi told the organisers that they were ready to pay for expenses and conduct the test at a different centre, but the organisers were “not ready to listen.”
“There may have been errors (in test results), but no other option was available. The test results were concluded as final. All our documents are authentic, but the results threw up different results,” said the official.
Schools from Manipur, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were also disqualified from participating in the tournament.
A total of 34 teams were divided into eight groups – six groups of four, two of five – with Regina Mundi drawn to face Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and NCC in pool D.