Have to deal with problem of age-cheating: India U-17 football coach

Nicolai Adam, India's head coach for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, says the country is grappling with the problem of age-fudging.

He was overseeing scouting of new talent across the country.

"We have been able to find a few boys. Unfortunately, in all the states I travelled to, we have to deal with the problem of age-cheating. The boys themselves confessed that they were overage and we did MRIs with them," Nicolai said in an interview.

Nocolai's wards are currently in Germany on an exposure trip after which they would move to Tabriz City for the AFC U-16 Qualifiers and to Spain thereafter.

Asked if the scouting players will continue, he said, "In October we will try to travel again to find new players. We haven't been to some states as of yet and I feel the pre-selection in other states can be done better. I reiterate if it's done better we can find more talented players."

And how much of challenge was the demography of India as far as scouting talent was concerned, Nicolai said, "The good side stays the potential of the country. It's huge and there are millions of kids in the age group which we are looking for.

"At the same time, travelling isn't easy in such a vast country and there isn't any football infrastructure in many regions. Add to that the lack of football education in most parts makes it that much difficult.

"I was able to make an analysis of the state associations and have a pretty clear picture on as to who is dedicated for the development of football and who isn't."

When asked about the team's future plans, he said, "We will be competing in Spain after the AFC Qualifiers to get more international experience for the team versus top-class teams."