Jamshedpur, Feb. 16: After disqualification, it?s time for tests.

After the state squad got disqualified from the inaugural All-India Under-13 tournament in Calcutta after some team members were found over-aged, the interim panel of the state football body has begun medical tests to verify their age.

This is the first time the state football body is conducting medical tests to verify the age of players. Earlier, players? certificates were used to verify their age.

Medical tests were conducted on players in Giridih during a selection trial for the state team for the National Under-19 Soccer Championship.

Two government doctors conducted the medical tests on some of the probables .

Speaking from Giridih, Ghulam Rabbani, convener of the interim panel of the Jharkhand Football Association (JBA), said, from now on, medical tests for age verification would be conducted on junior footballers (boys and girls) of different age categories.

?The disqualification of the Under-13 squad from the national football tourney in Calcutta has opened our eyes. We don?t want to face such embarrassing situations in future,? Rabbani said.

The doctors ? S.C. Mahapatra and Sanjay Kumar ? took x-ray (elbows and wrists) of some probables and found that they were not overage. ?We had requested the doctors of Giridih hospital to take the x-rays,? added Rabbani.

He said similar medical tests would be conducted on boys who would turn up for the under-21 selection trials.

Asked how the cash-strapped JBA managed to conduct the age verification tests, Rabbani said the doctors did it free of cost.

?We had requested the authorities of Giridih Hospital for the same. We are thankful to them,? he said, adding that they would try to raise funds for future tests. The interim panel generates funds through affiliation fees received from its 20-odd affiliated units. The clubs are required to pay an annual fee of Rs 500 to the JBA.

?Besides this, we have also planned to go for sponsorships,? Rabbani said.

Barring the cricket body and some private sports institutions, none of the sports bodies in Jharkhand, so far, conduct medical tests for age verification.

There are instances when sports bodies had to send back their players from national tournaments after they were found over-aged.

The state under-13 team was disqualified after five players in the 14-member squad were found overage.