Indian Football Round-up: The Best and Worst Moments of 2018

#5 Worst: Age Fraud - The Gourav Mukhi controversy

Gourav Mukhi claimed he was 16 despite having a full-grown moustache

Gourav Mukhi shot into the limelight on 7th October when he scored an equalizer for Jamshedpur FC in their match against Bengaluru FC in the Indian Super League. However, what caused the eyebrows to raise was that he was only 16.

Some passionate Indian football fans dug the archives of AIFF official website and found out that he was found overage in a U-15 tournament in 2015. The AIFF soon inquired the matter and suspended Gourav Mukhi for six months.

The international media caught this controversy and, he became a subject of farce. On top of that, some reports even claimed his actual age to be around 30.

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#5 Best: Women's Olympic Team Qualifies to the next round

Indian Women's Football team drew with Nepal, beat Bangladesh, and lost to Myanmar in the first round

The Indian Women's football team had never qualified to the next round of Olympic Qualifiers. Maymol Rocky and her team knew the task in hand and they didn't disappoint.

India kickstarted their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Nepal. They followed it up by drubbing Bangladesh 7-1 before succumbing 1-2 to the hosts Thailand. India finished as the runners-up of the group, picking up four points.

The next round will begin in April 2019 with the group winners will advance to the third round in 2020. If they finish in the top two there, they would make their first appearance in the Summer Olympics.