Deepankar Sharda Chandigarh, June 26 The UT Sports Department’s effort to check the entry of overage players in the state-run academies has hit a roadblock as the city’s premier medical institution — PGIMER — has turned down their request to conduct the Tanner-Whitehouse 3 (TW3) age-verification test on the players. Like some of the other national sports associations, the UT Sports Department had also decided to start conducting the TW3 test on players to deal with the problem of overage players but it reportedly failed to get a positive response from the PGIMER expert panel. According to sources, the hospital authorities told the Sports Department that no such test was conducted at the centre. In a written communication, the hospital authorities confirmed that they do not have any such facility and cited various reasons for not conducting the test, said a source in the UT Sports Department. “We approached everyone in PGIMER, but to no avail. They simply sent a refusal letter. We wanted to streamline things, and being a government institution we can only approach our counterparts for settling on the price of the test,” said the source. In the TW3 test, a digital X-ray of the left hand (palm and wrist/lower end of forearm) is taken to determine bone age. Also, the system comprises detailed analysis of the two most important bones — radius and ulna. The cost for the TW3 test varies from Rs 1,500 to Rs 6,000 and is the best available method to confirm the age of a player. Many sport bodies, like the BCCI, AITA, AIFF, AFI and SAI, also ask their respective state associations to conduct the TW3 test on players before they participate in the age-group championships. The PGIMER authorities though believe that the test is not an accurate way to find out the age of an athlete. “According to our paediatric endocrinologist, it (TW3) is not an accurate test and shows wide variations. We don’t do such tests,” said PGIMER spokesperson Manju Wadwalkar. Sports Director Tejdeep Singh Saini, however, said his department was “committed to stop age frauds.” “Before approaching PGIMER, we had approached a Delhi-based expert panel through Khelo India to conduct the TW3 test, but they failed to extend any co-operation as their domain is restricted to Khelo India projects only,” Saini said. “Though I have not personally gone to PGIMER, my colleagues confirmed that they denied conducting any such test,” he added. “We have now approached famous orthopaedic expert Dr Ravi Gupta and he has promised to come up with something to help us conduct the TW3 test.” Dr Gupta, who is the Medical Superintendent at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, and also heads the Sports Injury Centre, said a standard operating system would be introduced soon. “We will develop a standard operating system soon in consultation with the Sports Department. We will try to come up with a high accuracy specific age-group detection process,” he said. Tanner-Whitehouse test The TW3 test is the scientific way to spot age fraud. During the test a digital X-ray of the left hand (palm and wrist/lower end of forearm) is taken to determine the bone age. The system also comprises detailed analysis of the two most important bones - the radius and ulna.

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