Sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya (ANI Photo)

NEW DELHI: The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has received 33 complaints of sexual harassment against its coaches and administrative staff over the past ten years, indicating that more female athletes are coming forward to report such issues. Out of them, a significantly higher number of 25 complaints were filed against coaches.This figure was revealed by sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya in the Lok Sabha, responding to an unstarred question on Monday. According to the minister’s reply, six coaches were suspended based on the inquiry committee’s findings and the contracts of two were terminated.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“With respect to SAI, eight complaints have been filed against administrative staff, and 25 complaints have been filed against coaches since 2016. Out of the said eight cases, two cases are currently pending. For administrative staff, one case penalty was permanent withholding full gratuity as per Rule 9 of CCS (Pension) Rules 1972, while remaining cases were closed without penalty,” the minister informed.“For coaches, based on the findings, actions taken include six suspensions, six minor penalties, and two terminations. Further, no appeal was filed for administrative staff. However, for coaches, eight appeals have been filed by the complainant or the accused against the decisions/recommendations of the inquiry committees,” he added.The minister’s submission came on the questions posed by Member of Parliaments (MPs) Adhikari Deepak Dev and Raja Ram Singh. The MPs asked Mandaviya about “the details of total number of complaints regarding sexual harassment received against officials, coaches and support staff associated with the ministry, SAI, affiliated national sports federations (NSFs), SAI centres and other sports institution during the last ten years and the current year”.Revealing that the ministry doesn’t maintain data about complaints of sexual harassment filed by the sportspersons with concerned sports federations or bodies, the sports minister stated that no complaints of sexual harassments were reported against officials directly under his ministry during this period.“The NSFs are voluntary bodies registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 / Trusts Act / Companies Act. They are governed by their own constitution and have their own mechanism to redress the grievances/ complaints filed with them by sportspersons,” he said. “The ministry as well as the various organisations under this ministry have also established Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs), which ensure that all employees/trainees/athletes at these locations have access to a mechanism for addressing complaints related to sexual harassment. No complaints in this regard have been filed in the ministry with respect to its officials during the last ten years and the current year,” he added.TEN-YEAR RECORD AT SAI

The story of the All England is very important, as it has definitely been a life-changing one for me. The victory gave me recognition, but crucially, it was the foundation on which I could become the coach I am and help build an ecosystem for badminton in the country.In fact, the preparations that helped me win the All England were actually towards the 2000 Sydney Olympics.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!I lived like a monk. I was training at Sports Authority of India and Ganguly Prasad was my coach there. I just spent hours meditating, manifesting, thinking that I’m going to win the Olympic medal . Even if you were to give me another chance today, with all the knowledge, I don’t think I could have prepared or worked harder than I did on that day. Unfortunately, I lost early in Olympics, because after three knee surgeries — in 1994, ’96 and ’97 — my body was not the same. It couldn’t handle the long, strenuous effort of playing on concrete flooring in Sydney. After a three-setter against Vladislav Druzchenko, my body didn’t have the energy. My entire body was swollen and my knee had a golf ball kind of swelling. Things were very sad after the Olympic failure. I was like a zombie, didn’t know what to do, but somehow pulled myself to work but without expectation. With that kind of a mindset, I went into the All England of 2001. We started on a Saturday from Bangalore, but halfway through our auto journey to the airport, we heard that our visa has not been still done and that we had to come back on Monday.We took a very roundabout trip to collect the visa in Delhi.Then we had a long journey from Delhi to Bandar Abbas in Iran, Frankfurt and Birmingham — we started on a Monday morning and reached on Tuesday evening. Those days, All England had a 64-player draw (now 32) and we still were playing on concrete. We had two matches on Day One, a Wednesday, two matches on Day Two. Although, I won inside two games each, I had to go through a lot of strain. Fifteen points was a tiring format, and the concrete floor wasn’t helping my cause. We didn’t have physios or nutrition specialists. My food was roti, daal paalak and chicken at the same restaurant the whole week. After matches, I would lie on ice once in the physio room at the stadium and then in my room.The matches took a heavy toll on my body and with a lot of swelling, I still somehow managed to win. The biggest relief after the title was that I don’t have to go through pain for another day. To recover from and to plan the match, I think it’s purely God’s grace. I was lucky that I had Dr Ashok Rajagopal and solid support from my team comprising Ganguly Prasad and Le Roy D’Sa sir.(As told to Manne Ratnakar)

The embarrassing scenes at the India Open Super 750 tournament in Delhi last month has come as a wake-up call for the Government of India, which has its sights firmly set on hosting the Olympic Games in 2036.

According to a report on The Indian Express, an official from the Mansukh Mandaviya-led Sports MInistry as well as from the Sports Authority of India will be present at venues hosting international tournaments in India going forward.

Their job will be to oversee preparations as well as conduct of these events and ensure there are no complaints, especially when it comes to infrastructure, thus maintaining the image that India is trying to present of a nation capable of hosting a multi-sporting event of the scale of an Olympics.

Besides the India Open, India had hosted other major international events such as the Asian Aquatics Championships in Ahmedabad, the World Para Athletics Championships in Delhi the UCI Pune Grand Tour and the BWF Junior World Championships in Guwahati.

And it’s not just the India Open that has come under the scanner for poor infrastructure and/or planning. The World Para Athletics Championships – the biggest sporting event taking place in India since the 2010 Commonwealth Games – had made headlines after
stray dogs bit Japanese and Kenyan coaches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

“India has successfully hosted some major events and officials of international federations have had positive things to say. However, incidents like dog bites during the World Para Athletics Championships and the criticism during the India Open is undoing all the hard work,” a sports ministry source was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

“The sports ministry wants to make sure there is no scope for criticism when India hosts events. Hence the ministry has decided that two officials will be at events to oversee preparations. The only aim is to ensure there is not even a minor slip-up.

“India can host international events successfully, but the recent incidents the sports ministry believes were blown out of proportion and got a lot of coverage. But the ministry realizes there were issues. The ministry wants the right picture to be portrayed about India’s capability as hosts,” the source added.

How the 2026 India Open served a reality check to the country’s Olympic dream

The India Open had made headlines for shoddy facilities as well as poor air quality in New Delhi last year and things hardly turned out any different this year despite organisers shifting the event to a different venue.

Complaints of bird droppings on the floor of the playing area as well as the sight of monkeys sitting in the stands had left Indian sports officials red-faced, with the Malaysia-based Badminton World Federation also taking note of multiple complaints from players regarding the substandard playing and training facilities.

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Danish shuttler Mia Blichfeldt had complained about the facilities as well as air quality last year, and
did not not any significant improvement last month. Her views were supported by world No 3 and fellow Dane Anders Antonsen, who withdrew from the tournament after complaining of Delhi’s hazardous air quality.

Blichfeldt had also urged governing body BWF to ensure the Indian badminton federation had proper infrastructure in place for the
World Championships that will be taking place in the national capital later this year.

While India dreams of becoming only the fourth Asian nation after Japan, South Korea and China to host the Olympics, it faces intense competition from a host of other nations, including Qatar – which had successfully hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

India, in the meantime, have been awarded hosting rights for the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad, which has also been marked as the host city in the country’s Olympic bid.