Gourav Mukhi has been in the news for both right and wrong reasons. He showed that he can be a valuable asset to Jamshedpur after he scored against Bengaluru FC at the Kanteerava Stadium within minutes of coming on from the bench. But the controversy regarding his age has only dented his progress.
Against ATK, he was not even included in the 18-member squad. Coach Cesar Ferrando could not provide a clear answer for his exclusion when questioned in the post-match press conference.
"I don't know what is the issue with Mukhi," said the gaffer.
The Jamshedpur FC spokesperson did not reveal much on the issue as well.
"Some problem with the All India Football Federation (AIFF). We don't know yet. So we can't comment on that," said media manager Souptik Das.
The AIFF had previously said that its Players’ Status Committee will investigate the allegations of age “discrepancy” against Mukhi who had been declared the youngest scorer of ISL.
“We will pass on the matter to the relevant committees – the players status committee first or the disciplinary committee to look into the discrepancy regarding his age,” AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told PTI.
“The discrepancy is regarding his passport which shows that he is 2002 born and a statement he issued in 2015 which stated that he is 1999 born,” Das added.
To recap, back in 2015, Jharkhand won the Sub-Junior National Football Championship title by defeating Goa 8-3 in the finals. But subsequently, AIFF stripped Jharkhand of the honours and also imposed a fine of Rs. 1 Lakh after it was revealed that up to five of the victorious team's players were overage.
Gourav Mukhi was one of the five players who confessed that they were overage after the AIFF called them up for a national team camp.
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