For decades, the menace of age fraud has cast a shadow over Indian sports, distorting fair competition and depriving young and budding athletes of opportunities. The government has now taken decisive steps to address this problem.

Age fraud — where athletes manipulate birth records or falsify documents to compete in younger age categories — has long eroded the credibility of competitions. While this is a global issue, its impact in India has been particularly severe, affecting talent development across disciplines such as cricket, football, and badminton. Despite past efforts, enforcement gaps and outdated verification methods allowed the problem to persist, eroding trust in the system.

To tackle this, the ministry of youth affairs and sports introduced the Draft National Code Against Age Fraud in Sports (NCAAFS) 2025, a much-needed revision to the 2010 framework. While the objective of both the codes remains the same, the 2025 version aims to reduce the problem by making some key additions and........

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