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Game of Truth

 How tech can end age fraud in Indian sports

By GBS Bindra and Manish Verma 

Age fraud in Indian sports isn’t an accident—it’s a systemic flaw 

The government’s draft National Code Against Age Fraud in Sports (NCAAFS) 2025 is a step in the right direction. The policy, released for public comment by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, outlines a much-needed reform agenda. But without digital enforcement, biometric safeguards, and meaningful deterrents, it risks going the way of previous well-intentioned codes — buried under paperwork and quietly ignored

Verify the player, not the paper

The draft code still leans on unverifiable, easily manipulated documents — school certificates, handwritten transfers, orphanage affidavits. In a country where identity records can be forged for a few hundred rupees, that’s a non-starter.

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Instead, India should leverage its digital public infrastructure — Aadhaar, DigiLocker, and verifiable QR-linked birth certificates — for age verification. Only those documents that can be digitally sourced and verified via secure APIs should be accepted. No physical storage. No photocopies. No middlemen.

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Adding fingerprint-based digital verification at the point of athlete registration — similar to KYC in banking — can eliminate tampering. Machines don’t take bribes; humans do.

Raise the stakes — and the penalties

The draft includes bans and FIRs for repeat offenders, but deterrence demands harsher institutional repercussions. That means:

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  • Debarring athletes found guilty of age fraud from all government jobs including sports quota positions in the Railways, PSUs, and paramilitary forces.

  • Mandatory biometric checks at recruitment to weed out fraudulent age claims at the hiring stage

  • Linking central government sports grants to state-level adoption of the national policy — a carrot-and-stick approach that could drive uniformity across all states

The path forward

Trying to implement these reforms across all sports at once is a recipe for chaos. Instead, launch a pilot in one sport — say hockey — and build out from there. Use this controlled rollout to refine the system, gather feedback, and build institutional muscle.

 

Ministry’s draft code is a commendable start—but policy alone won’t end age fraud. The real test lies in execution. With the scaffolding of reform now in place, India must pivot to a digital-first, data-driven system that values integrity as fiercely as victory.

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True champions aren’t measured by medals alone, but by the fairness of their journey. The system must finally reflect that truth.

Read our comments in full on the draft National Code Against Age Fraud in Sports (NCAAFS) 2025 here
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