Age just a number: SC Delhi coach backs performance as Diamond Singh's age row brews
Sporting Club Delhi head coach Tomasz Tchorz has sought to keep the focus on football amid the controversy surrounding defender Diamond Singh’s age, insisting that selection should depend on performance rather than a player’s date of birth.
His remarks come ahead of SC Delhi’s Indian Super League (ISL) clash against Mohun Bagan Super Giant, with questions circulating online over the teenager’s officially listed age. Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Thursday, Tchorz said the controversy would not influence his team’s tactics or approach against Mohun Bagan.
“In general, I am a person who does not really read what is written online or follow it closely. Obviously, you can see that I am visible online because I share a lot of content. This is part of the game and also part of our profession. Regardless, what people say does not bother me much because I have my own evaluation and professional people around me who help me assess things,” Tchorz said.
“If you are talking about this particular topic, it does not really influence the game against Mohun Bagan. It is not related to the tactics, strategy or approach for the match, so I would rather avoid speaking about anything that is not important for that particular game,” he added.
AGE IS NOT A FACTOR, SAYS TCHORZ
The SC Delhi coach was equally clear on whether age influences his selection decisions, insisting that a player’s ability would always take precedence.
“To reiterate, for me, age is just a number, and it will never be the factor that determines who plays and who does not. We can have a player who is 16, 26 or 46. If he is good, he will play. If he is not good, he will not play. From my perspective as a coach, it really does not matter,” Tchorz said.
But the coach’s response was not limited to selection. With a young player at the centre of a public debate, he also pointed to the responsibility that comes with scrutinising emerging footballers, particularly when questions around them risk overshadowing their development.
“However, if anything can influence a player’s performance, everyone looking closely at the matter should also understand how to protect the player and help young Indian players improve. We are all working not just for our clubs, but for the entire ecosystem,” he added.
WHY DIAMOND SINGH’S AGE IS UNDER SCRUTINY
Diamond made his ISL debut against Bengaluru FC on October 10, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute. His officially registered date of birth, June 13, 2010, would make him 16 and place him ahead of Punjab FC’s Pramveer Singh as the league’s youngest player.
However, questions emerged after an older video on the Sudeva Sports YouTube channel reportedly listed his date of birth as March 6, 2007. If accurate, that would make him 19 rather than 16. Other claims concerning earlier database listings and academy records have added to the scrutiny.
IS AGE MANIPULATION AN OLD PROBLEM IN INDIAN FOOTBALL?
The reason Diamond Singh’s age has become such a talking point is that Indian football has been here before. Questions over players’ ages have surfaced at various levels of the game, and some of those cases have ended with suspensions or teams being thrown out of competitions. That history makes the scrutiny around Diamond understandable, but it does not mean his case has the same outcome written all over it.
Take Gourav Mukhi, for instance. In 2018, Mukhi shot to fame after scoring for Jamshedpur FC against Bengaluru FC and was hailed as the ISL’s youngest goalscorer at 16. Within weeks, however, the focus shifted from his achievement to questions over his age. The AIFF subsequently found him guilty of age fraud and handed him a six-month suspension in November 2018, while revoking his existing player registration.
The issue is not limited to the professional game, either. At youth level, age categories are meant to ensure that players compete on a fair footing. In August 2024, three teams were disqualified from the Subroto Cup’s sub-junior boys’ tournament after skeletal age-estimation tests found that they had fielded overage players. Each team had more than four players who failed to meet the age criteria, resulting in their disqualification.
More recently, the issue surfaced within the AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy in Odisha. In March 2026, the academy was barred from fielding players outside the prescribed age category in the U-18 Elite Youth League for the remainder of the season after an AIFF disciplinary committee found merit in an age-manipulation complaint.
It is little surprise, then, that a discrepancy in Diamond’s records has attracted attention. There is a history behind the questions being asked, and previous cases explain why supporters want clarity.
But does that history, by itself, justify treating Diamond’s case as another example of age manipulation before any such wrongdoing has been established?
Indian football has every reason to take age verification seriously. It also has a responsibility to ensure that scrutiny does not become a verdict in the court of public opinion. The facts need to be established, and the relevant authorities need to provide clarity. Until then, the questions around Diamond remain questions, not proof of wrongdoing.
For SC Delhi, the immediate challenge is a footballing one. The club opened its 2026-27 ISL campaign with a 3-2 defeat against Bengaluru FC and will look to respond when it hosts Mohun Bagan Super Giant at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on October 16. Mohun Bagan will also be seeking its first points after a 1-0 loss to NorthEast United.
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