Mumbai, April 17 (IANS) Two-time Paralympic Games medallist Sumit Antil is among the country’s top javelin throwers who have alleged harassment and use of abusive language by javelin coach Naval Singh and have complained to the Sports Authority of India (SAI), a news report claimed on Friday. Antil claimed he has received support from Tokyo Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra.
According to the report, the country’s top athletes have made a written complaint to SAI, alleging mental harassment and repetitive use of abusive language by javelin coach Naval Singh, who trains Sachin Yadav.
The written complaint was submitted to SAI on April 10, after the matter was raised with officials from SAI and the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), The Bridge said in a report on Friday.
“I have always been a clean athlete, and I don’t want to be part of any controversy. I tried to explain to him (coach Naval Singh) multiple times, but this is not the first time. It has gone beyond my patience level,” the report quoted Sumit Antil as saying.
“He gets drunk and sends random recordings abusing us and dragging our families into it. He tends to behave this way when competitions approach,” he added.
The report claimed that the emails written by the elite athletes to SAI included audio recordings in which Singh is allegedly heard verbally abusing Neeraj, Sumit, Navdeep, and Pakistani javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem.
Antil was the first to raise the issue with SAI. He said he approached SAI Deputy Director Arunlal and the CEO of TOPS (Nash Johal) about the coach’s behaviour. Antil claimed that the SAI officials sat the two parties down for a compromise but the Paralympic Games gold medallist rejected the approach.
Antil, who initiated the complaint, said that he had experienced many incidents of verbal abuse, humiliation, and mental harassment by the said coach and eventually decided to take action.
“The language used has been extremely degrading, not only towards athletes but also towards our families, including deeply disrespectful remarks about our mothers and even about esteemed athletes like Neeraj Chopra, Navdeep Singh, and Sandeep Chaudhary,” he added.
The report said Antil claims to have the backing of two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra. “I stand in full agreement with my fellow athletes and strongly demand strict action in this matter,” Chopra wrote in his email.
“I write this as an athlete who has had the honor of representing India at both national and international levels, and who firmly believes that sport must uphold dignity, discipline, and respect. The statements made by coach Naval Singh are not just inappropriate; they are disgraceful,” Chopra added.
Antil alleged that no action has been taken against coach Naval Singh despite multiple complaints.
–IANS
bsk/