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Cuttack: Shubham Nayak, son of Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) CEO Bidyut Kumar Nayak, landed in the age forgery controversy that has bedevilled more than 30 young cricketers in Odisha, an overwhelming majority of them from the city of Cuttack, after it came to fore that the all-rounder's age is mentioned differently on the OCA website and weightage certificate submitted by him to the Sports department.
Evidence in the possession of OTV reveals that in a letter to the Sports department to get the weightage certificate under the sports quota, Shubham has mentioned his date of birth as July 25, 1995. Going by this certificate, Subham turned 20 on July 25, 2015. But surprisingly, he played under-19 matches in November 2015, more than a year after he crossed the eligible age.
Curiousuly, his date of birth is mentioned as October 25, 1998 on the OCA website.
Commenting on the mismatch in the age of his son, Nayak, the OCA CEO and Shubham’s father, said, “His actual date of birth and the date mentioned in his educational certificate are different. In 2012-13, during the TWC test result, the bone age placed him at 14, which meant he was eligible to play U-16 for another three years.”
Subrat Nanda, convener of the Indian Anti Corruption organisation, said, “Odisha was blacklisted earlier and a similar fate awaits it again. The malaise of age fudging in the OCA runs deep and is a result of the nexus between sportspersons, the OCA and coaches that has prevailed for a long period.”
Meanwhile, a three-member CBI team today visited the OCA office located in the Barabati Stadium premises and examined papers and quizzed some players.
The sleuths also questioned officials of two nursing homes where the health of the sportspersons was examined. Yesterday, the CBI team had gone to the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) office to collect data about some junior cricketers who are under the scanner in the age fudging scam.
Ashirbad Behera, OCA secretary, said, “If things are strict, players as well as we will be cautious. However, if the rules are not strictly implemented in others states, Odisha will be victimised in this case.”
Elaborating on the CBI team’s visit, PK Pradhan, a CMC health official, said, “They wanted copies of records and we provided them three genuine records. They (players) might have collected false certificate from other places.”
