Just as Jamshedpur FC prepared for its ninth match of ISL, in came the news of the suspension of its Indian forward Gaurav Mukhi. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) Disciplinary Committee had imposed a six-month suspension on the player for age fudging.
The player was suspended on the basis contradictory statements about his actual age which was upheld in the AIFF verdict “on the basis of the evidence presented by him, his admissions and the statements of Manager of U-16 AIFF academy in 2015,” said an AIFF statement. No action was taken against the Jamshedour FC.
Mukhi’s case was apparently taken up by the National federation on “prima facie seriousness of the issue” after both the ISL and Jamshedpur FC started promoting the player as a 16-year-old prodigy and was also named as the youngest goal-scorer of the tournament when he struck against Bengaluru FC in the 2-2 draw (on October 7).
The age dispute started back in 2015 when Jharkhand won the sub-junior National Football Championship crown by thrashing Goa 8-3 in the final. But the state was stripped of its honour when All India Football Federation found five of Jharkhand players to be overage. Mukhi was one of them. The player reportedly admitted of being overaged when he was called to the National camp for U-17 FIFA World Cup.
“In addition, the AIFF Disciplinary Committee also observed that the existing registration of Gaurav Mukhi, both in the Central Registration System (CRS) as well as the Competition Management System (CMS) shall stand cancelled and revoked with immediate effect, with liberty upon the player/ his appropriate club, to submit original valid appropriate documents for fresh registration under CRS and CMS,” the AIFF statement said.
Jamshedpur is yet name a replacement officially though the name of Augustin Fernandes is doing rounds.
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