Guessing games go on in CBA

No fewer than 26 players currently plying their trade for the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) are officially listed as being the wrong age, the CBA admitted on Monday.

The under-pressure governing body was forced to investigate all 242 players under its wing after a report from Asia-basket.com last month claimed that 22 players listed their ages diferently for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. The CBA countered that it was only able to discover 14 such discrepancies among the players named.

In several cases, athletes shaved one or more years off their ages to make themselves eligible for - and the national side more competitive at - youth tournaments. Given the high sensitivity of this issue, the CBA has traditionally feigned ignorance, making this week's statement all the more explosive.