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 Over-age controversy must be sorted out

By ..Wanchai Rujawongsanti Bangkok Post
Mr. Worawi Makudi Peter Velappan
FIFA Executive Committee AFC General Secretary

Thai officials received bad news last week when the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) fined the Kingdom US$10,000 (450,000 baht) for fielding two over-age players in last year's Asian Under-16 Championship.

The two players alleged to be over-age, Visit Chanvichanon and Tada Keelalai, were banned from national teams for two years.

Oman, Iran and Bangladesh also allegedly used over-age players-some as old as 20, according to the AFC-and were also hit with bans and fines.

Naturally, the alleged cheaters claim they are innocent. After all, it's human nature to refuse to accept guilt.

But people who follow football closely know that using over-age players in age-group tournaments has often happened in Asia-with some "youngsters" being way over the age limit. Some matches have literally been "men against boys". The practice of using over-age players has become the norm and so has the rationale that goes "everybody does it, so we can do it too".

In Thailand, some players seemed to be eligible for junior sides forever. It was not unusual to see an under-18 player wai an under-16 player. Footballers appeared to be the most intelligent group in the country as some under-16 players were university seniors.

This time Thai officials are eager to clear their names and the country's name. They insist that none of the players in last year's under-16 squad were over-age since their records were thoroughly checked and claim all relevant documents, including birth and education certificates, were genuine.

Insiders say the officials may be telling the truth because Thailand's reputation was tarnished by the notorious Thailand-Indonesia farce of a Tiger Cup match in 1998 in Vietnam. This prompted officials to be more careful not to further harm the country's image and do their best to ensure all age-group players were below the limit.

The documents of the players in question may be genuine, unlike in the past when officials produced fake papers, but the players may be older than is stated in their birth certificates.

It's not uncommon for Thais, in particular those in the provinces, to register the births of their children long after the actual birth dates due to all sorts of inconveniences. No-one is to blame for this but it may cause a problem when a player's age is checked.

But some scientific methods may not be reliable. Our officials have launched attacks on the AFC, saying the bone X-ray method used to determine the actual age of a player is not accurate and not even accepted by Fifa, world football's governing body.

If this is the case, we should swiftly complain to Fifa. After all Football Association of Thailand secretary-general Worawi Makudi is a Fifa executive board member.

Reports suggest that the over-age charges may be a political issue as Worawi does not see eye-to-eye with an AFC big gun, who is accused by the Thai press of trying to wield his power against Thailand whenever he can. If Thai officials think there's an ulterior motive behind the punishment or believe the AFC excercised its power in a prejudiced manner, then Worawi, as a Fifa executive, should show them that we cannot be bullied.

Whatever the case, the FAT must crack down seriously on any attempt to use over-age players in tournaments. Now that international football bodies use scientific methods to check players' ages, birth certificates may not be enough to prove how old players are. We need to check players' ages scientifically to prevent any future problems.

Using over-age players will hamper the progress of our football. In fact, in the past our over-age players did not fare very well against opponents-so what's the point of using over-age players? We are going lose anyway, so why not lose with our heads held high? At least we can say we do not cheat.

Thailand's name has been in the headlines for many bad things-economically, socially and politically-for years. We are also high on the list of corrupt countries. Our country's none-too-good reputation must not be further hurt by football foul play.
News:

Thais deny fielding over-age players

BANGKOK, May 15 (Reuters)(DS)

Thai soccer authorities have denied they fielded two over-age players in last year's Asian under-16 championship and have threatened to take legal action over a two-year ban imposed on the pair.Visit Chanvichaanon and Tada Keelalai were among 16 players from five nations who were banned from international soccer for two years after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said x-rays at last year's under-16 championship in Vietnam had proved some of them were 19 or 20. Iran, Oman, Thailand, Nepal and Bangladesh have been excluded from the 2002 Asian youth tournament and fined $10,000 each. The Football Association of Thailand (FAT), however, denies that their players were over age. "The documents -- birth certificates, education certificates and identification cards issued by the Interior Ministry that the two players have given to the FAT -- are all in order and show that they were not over age for the tournament," FAT deputy president Thirachai Vuthithum was quoted as saying in Tuesday's
edition of The Bangkok Post.


"Visit was born on February 2, 1984, while Tada was born on January 4, 1984. "We have all the evidence we need to show the AFC that we did not cheat and we are prepared to take legal action against the AFC secretary-general, Peter Velappan, for giving Thailand a bad reputation worldwide through this matter."

DISPUTED TESTS
Velappan said last week the players had been banned after x-ray tests had determined that all of them were well over the age limit, the AFC even allowing two years as a margin of error. The x-rays were viewed by two doctors in Malaysia before being verified by a consultant working with world soccer's governing body FIFA in Zurich.
The Thais, though, have questioned the legitimacy of the tests, saying they were unreliable. "The bone x-rays cannot be 100 percent accurate and FIFA itself has not sanctioned this method of checking players' ages," said FAT medical chairman Varin Tantasupasiri, who also serves as the AFC's deputy medical chairman. Earlier in the week, FAT general secretary and FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi had also claimed the test results were incorrect.
"I have talked to Vijit Getkaew, president of FAT, about this matter and we will not accept the decision," he said.
"We will clear ourselves and show we did not cheat. We have screened their educational documents and they are valid. "Everything has been done in the right way. We don't have a policy of using over-age players."

Players' documents 'show they are innocent 
By Tor Chittinand Bangkok Post (14 May 2001 Edition)

Thailand officials again claimed yesterday that the two junior players who are at the centre of the over-age controversy which led to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) banning Thailand from next year's Asian Under-17 tournament are innocent of cheating.

Thirachai Vuthithum, the deputy president of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), said that Visit Chanvichanon and Tada Keelalai were not over-age during last year's Asian Under-16 Championship in Danang, Vietnam, contrary to the claims by the AFC.

"The documents-birth certificates, education certificates and identification cards issued by the Interior Ministry-that the two players have given to the FAT are all in order and show that they were not over-age for the tournament.

"Visit was born on February 2, 1984 while Tada was born on January 4, 1984.



"We have all the evidence we need to show the AFC that we did not cheat and we are prepared to take legal action against the AFC secretary-general, Peter Velappan, for giving Thailand a bad reputation worldwide through this matter."
Varin Tantasupasiri, the FAT medical chairman and also the AFC deputy medical chairman, said: "The bone X-rays cannot be 100 percent accurate and Fifa itself has not sanctioned this method of checking players' ages."

Thailand were also fined US$10,000 by the AFC.
Related Story From AFC.

http://www.asian-football.com/scripts/runisa.dll?M2:gp:898829:39913+mrel/news+24927+E

Velappan: Cheating will not be tolerated (10.05.01)

Asian Football Confederation general secretary Dato' Peter Velappan said the fielding of over-age players in age group tournaments will be met with severe punishment in the future after the AFC banned 16 players from international football for two years on Thursday.

The players - five from Iran, six from Oman, two from Thailand and three from Bangladesh - were all found to be overage after X-ray tests at the Asian Youth Under 16 Championship in Danang, Vietnam last year.

In addition, Iran, Oman, Thailand Bangladesh and Nepal, who were censured for not allowing their players to be tested, will not be allowed to participate in the 2002 Asian Youth tournament. All five were also fined US$10,000 and had their team managers suspended.

Kuwait were also fined US$3,000 for not co-operating with the AFC's medical team in Iran at the Asian Youth Under 19 Championship, and team manager Abdul Karim Al Lokman was fined US$10,000 and banned from holding any office at national level for five years.

"For 15 years we have been asking national associations not to cheat, to teach the players to be honest but unfortunately this advice was ignored," said Velappan. "We undertook X-ray tests 10 years ago to determine a player's age but scrapped that and decided that honesty was better than X-rays.

"However, last year we brought back X-ray testing at the Asian Youth Under 16 Championships in Danang in Vietnam and we appointed a committee to check the players.

"When we put the bone age against the passport age we found players who were supposed to be under 16 were actually 19 or 20."

Velappan said the punishments served as a last warning to Asian nations who had flouted the rules in the past and that, in the future, the sentences could be more severe.

"This is a lesson to all the national associations not to cheat," he said. "Cheating does not pay and we do hope that this message will be seriously received by all the 45 national associations in Asia.

"If there is a repeat there could be a total suspension for the national association for a period of time as FIFA did with Iraq, Mexico and Nigeria, which was a total suspension for cheating."

Iraq were banned for two years from all football activities in the early Nineties for fielding overage players while Mexico were kicked out of the 1990 World Cup in Italy after fielding four overage players at the 1988 World Youth Championships.

Banned players

Oman

Ali Talib Salman Al Ajmi Hassan Zahir Rajab Al Maghni Sameer S. Mubarak Al Alawi Mohamed Mubarak Suwaid Al Hinai Ahmed Hadid Thuwain Al Mukhaini

Team manager: Salim Mansoor Al Hinai

Iran

Hassan Houri Vahid Sharghi Syed Mahdi Hoseini Eman Parva Mojtaba Ahmadi

Team manager: Hamid Derakshan

Thailand

Tada Keelalay Visist Chanvichanon

Team manager: Thanasak Suraprasert

Bangladesh

Md. Mahbub Alam Mohammed Tutul Mohammed Raqibul Islam

Team manager: Gulam Sarwar