KSHA accuses AHA of mishandling age tests for sub-junior tourney

Bangalore, Apr 26 (UNI) Karnataka State Hockey Association (KSHA) has accused its Andhra counterpart (AHA) of mishandling the age verification tests, which prevented them from sending a team in the Sub-Junior National Hockey Championship, which concluded in Bhimavaram on yesterday.

KSHA General Secretary K Krishnamurthy told UNI that of the 18 Boys 10 were disqualified on the grounds of being over-age and despite requests the team was not allowed to play.

''There were no proper medical team as such to determine age of the boys, besides the age certificates given by the respective schools were not considered as age proof. Doctors who were not professionally qualified were made to determine the age of the boys and despite protest the case was not considered thus depriving the team from participating,'' he alleged.

Karnataka had won the title twice in 2001 and 2003.

KSHA Joint Secretary T Shanmugam, who accompanied the team as Manager, said, ''No proper medical examination was done. Whatever done was in a shoddy manner and when the matter was brought to the knowledge of AHA Secretary M Niranjan Reddy he refused to entertain any complaint,'' he said.

''Moreover, the so called doctors were refusing to give certificate for disqualification despite written complaint.'' Shanmugam said though the tournament was supposed to start on April 18 it was postponed and on April 20 when the matches started players from Chandigarh could not play as they were held up for medical checkup.

He said though a written complaint, signed by the 12 State team managers, was given no action was taken. In all 33 teams participated in the tournament. The organisers asked other states to field the teams by lifting disqualification of a few players.

But this consideration was not shown to Karnataka who were instead asked to play with only eight players.

Shanmugham said that IHF Joint Secretary Pratap Satpathy of Orissa tried to contact IHF President K P S Gill but in vain and IHF Secretary Jyothi Kumaran refused to entertain any complaint on the disqualification of the boys stating that it was under jurisdiction of the organising Association.

In a letter to Mr Gill, Krishnamurthy strongly condemned the organisers for not making known the names of the medical panel to all the participating teams and the criteria that would be followed by the panel in determining the age of players.

''Does this not speak of unprofessional approach'' he asked adding, ''obviously, the whole exercise of finding out the age of the players wase farce,'' he alleged in the letter.

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