Two-year ban and fine slapped on 3 Bengal paddlers; All titles and other benefits to be withdrawn

Pudhucherry, January 17, 2015: Bengal’s Oishwarya Deb, Suthirtha Mukherjee and Priyadarshni Das have been slapped with a two-year ban and a fine of Rs. 25,000 each for misrepresenting their age. The three players, who are already under suspension, will face the ban until January 2016 nationals.

Additionally, the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) will also be writing to their employers to take appropriate action besides the national federation stripping them of all their national and international titles.

This, along with other decisions, was taken at the Executive Board meeting held here today. The crucial meeting was attended by 10 of the 12 members. A day earlier, the disciplinary committee met here to suggest the quantum of punishment to the errant players.  

The action by TTFI follows a severe indictment by the CBI’s Sports Integrity Cell which probed into the age-fraud cases of several paddlers. The CBI’s probe panel has found the three players to be guilty of serious violations.

Addressing media persons at the end of the EB meeting, TTFI president Prabhat C. Chaturvedi, said the case a fourth paddler from Bengal, Ayhika Mukherjee, was also probed by the Sports Integrity Cell but it found the player not deriving any benefit unlike the other three. “Ayhika, too, had two dates of birth certificate but she was competing in the right age-group events and was not found to have taken any advantage by the probe panel. Accordingly, we let her off with this season’s ban (one-year) and no fine was imposed on her.”

In other words, Ayhika Mukherjee, who was already under suspension, will be eligible to play from next season, beginning August 2015.

Chaturvedi also said the TTFI clean-up drive has yielded good results with 24 North Bengal, 20 West Bengal and a few Assam paddlers coming forward and voluntarily disclosing their correct dates of birth. “We had introduced an amnesty clause under which all those players admitting their follies and declaring correct dates of birth will be punished with the withdrawal of titles, if any, while allowing them to play from next season. The committee viewed them sympathetically and considered this action was sufficiently,” added the TTFI chief.

He, however, warned that with the deadline for voluntary disclosure having come to end on November 25, 2014, any player found to be having more than one date of birth certificate will face two-year ban and withdrawal of all titles.

In order to tighten the screw on such future age-fraud cases, the TTFI will impose a two-year ban with a fine of Rs. 50,000, said Chaturvedi.

The TTFI president also said that the national federation will be making some amendments to its guidelines on registration of birth certificate as per the 1969 Act (registration of birth). “This was a suggestion came from the Sports Integrity Cell and accordingly it is proposed to amend our guidelines on the issue. We would insist on players that have registered his or her birth date one year after, should obtain a judicial order from the First Class Magistrate,” he said.

TTFI Press release