ISL 2018-19: Jamshedpur FC player Gourav Mukhi suspended by AIFF until investigation on age-fraud issue concludes

Jamshedpur FC player Gourav Mukhi has been placed under suspension by All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) Disciplinary Committee until investigation on his age discrepancy concludes. He has been summoned by the committee for a personal hearing at AIFF’s head office on 24 November. [caption id=“attachment_5583791” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Gourav Mukhi (L). ISL[/caption] Mukhi, who at 16, supposedly became the youngest scorer in the Indian Super League when he came off the bench to net a goal against Bengaluru FC on 7 October, is facing allegations of age fraud. The statement from Indian Super League says, “All India Football Federation Disciplinary Committee has summoned Jamshedpur FC player Gourav Mukhi for personal hearing at its head office on Saturday, 24 November 2018. In the interest of fair play, the AIFF DC based on prima facie seriousness of the issue has put the player under ‘suspension’ from participation in any AIFF events until a final decision is reached.” In 2015, Mukhi was part of the Jharkhand U-15 side that won the Sub-Junior National Football Championship title, beating Goa 8-3 in the final. However, Jharkhand were later stripped of the title and fined one lakh rupees by the AIFF after five players, which included Mukhi, confessed to being overage. After his age discrepancy issue came to limelight, Mukhi has reportedly submitted documents to prove that he is, in fact, 16-years-old. “Jamshedpur FC player Gourav Mukhi who had earlier given a declaration that his DOB was 04/05/1999 has now submitted documents to the CRS system referring that his DOB is 04/05/2002,” said an AIFF statement. The statement also said that the Centralised Registration System (CRS) was non-existent in 2015, but the matter will be investigated. AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told PTI that according to Mukhi’s passport, he’s born in 2002. He also said, “We will pass on the matter to the relevant committees - the players status committee or the disciplinary committee to look into the discrepancy regarding his age.”