All the 35 boys of the AIFF Regional Academy based at the Pailan World School, Kolkata successfully passed the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tests conducted at the AMRI Hospital in Salt Lake, Kolkata.

The tests which scanned the player’s wrists plates to verify their proper age were conducted ahead of the U-16 SAFF Championship which kicks-off in Kathmandu on July 20.

Dr. Sandeep Kumar, Medical Consultant, AIFF said: “I’ve gone through the MRI reports of all the players and it confirms that none of them are over 15 years of age.”

Scott O’Donell, Technical Director, AIFF Academies, said the Tests reinforced “AIFF’s tough stance”.

“I am extremely pleased that all of our boys cleared the MRI examinations. I think it reinforces AIFF’s tough stance on age cheating. We went through thorough testing at the National Championships to ensure all players selected for the Pailan Academy were of the correct age,” O’Donell, also the AIFF Director for Coach Education, stated.

“The boys have been working extremely hard over the last few months and it would have been a shame if that hard work had gone to waste had any of the boys been overage,” he added.

“With the testing behind us we can now focus on preparing for the U-16 SAFF Championships in Nepal and later the AFC 16 Championships in Kuwait.”

(Report & Picture courtesy AIFF Media)