Bronx team forfeits wins due to overage player

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Little League Baseball officials said Friday a Bronx, New York, team must forfeit all its wins after the Dominican Republic government found the squad's star pitcher was two years too old.

Little League officials also issued a lifetime ban for the boy's father, Felipe de Jesus Almonte, and suspended Bronx Little League founder Rolando Paulino "indefinitely."

Earlier in the day, Dominican Republic officials said pitcher Danny Almonte's real age is 14, two years beyond the Little League age limit. Almonte came to New York from the Dominican Republic 18 months ago with his father.

Little League and Dominican officials began looking into documented reports Monday that Almonte was overage, questioning the validity of the birth certificate given to Little League officials claiming the pitcher was 12.

A Dominican investigation revealed a valid birth certificate showing Almonte was born on April 7, 1987 -- and indicating the other documents had been falsified.

"I hope this will not hurt Danny Jesus de Almonte's brilliant career in baseball," said Ramon Morell Cerda, president of the Dominican Republic's electoral central board. "But we have to stick to the truth, and this is the truth."

Little League officials suspended Paulino indefinitely from their organization, citing "information that he was involved" in the Almonte case and his role in a similar incident -- using overage players -- while coaching a Dominican team in a Puerto Rico tournament in the 1980s.

Almonte's father was banned from all Little League activities for his alleged role in falsifying Almonte's birth certificate and passport. Dominican officials said they might pursue sanctions against the boy's parents and anyone else who participated in fraudulently obtaining the birth documents, Reuters reported.

On Thursday, local education officials told CNN that their records show that Almonte has not enrolled as a student in any city schools, despite laws requiring education for children between the ages of 6 and 16.

"It appears as though he's not attended schools in the Dominican as well," Stephen Keener, president of Little League Baseball, said Friday.

Keener said he has no indication that Almonte attended school in either the Dominican Republic or New York.

Keener said his organization, with the help of baseball broadcaster Harold Reynolds, was working with local officials to ensure Almonte gets an education.

Prior to the Little League's announcement, Paulino insisted he was innocent, telling reporters that he depends on the documents and information parents give to him to determine a player's eligibility.

"If Danny's father provided information that is inaccurate, we all feel bad," Paulino, speaking in Spanish, said through an interpreter.

President Bush, who hosted Little League games on the White House lawn and threw out the first pitch of this year's championship game, expressed dismay after hearing that Almonte was overage.

"I was sorely disappointed that people felt like they could send in a false age, especially when it comes to Little League Baseball of all places," Bush said.