Credibility tarnished by harassment charges

NEWDELHI: If hunger for power and lack of football initiatives have crippled Delhi’s football, what has made circumstances more appalling are charges of sexual exploitation and unaudited accounts.

The safety of young girls, aspiring to take up football as a career, has been under the scanner ever since charges of sexual harassment and misconduct against Delhi Soccer Association vicepresident Nagendra Singh came to light.

Allegations of financial mismanagement have also put the credibility of DSA president Subhash Chopra’s long-serving team – the general elections were last held in May 2011 -- under the microscope. The DSA managing committee “making corrections” in the budget from “time to time” only raises doubts over fund management.

But more than anything, reports of intimidation have been scary. The very fact that Nagendra was removed as the chairman of the DSA’S women’s committee only hints that something did go wrong.

The issue of exploitation not only reached the Delhi Commission for Women, but also the sports ministry, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, and even the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The All India Football Federation did not intervene, saying, “it was an internal matter of the state association”.

The freedom to operate virtually without any accountability only bolstered the DSA.

“How can you remove an elected member from the executive committee just because there are some allegations against him? When we got to know about the complaints, we immediately removed him from the women’s committee. What more do you want?” DSA president Chopra told Hindustan Times.

Nagendra’s story dates back to 2010 when the complaints were first registered by some Indian women footballers. However, they never surfaced in the media until recently.

“If the girls have so many issues, why don’t they register a police complaint? We have asked them to do so but if they do not wish to, then what can we do?” said Chopra.

The girls defended themselves.

“We are from middle class families. All this will entangle us into legal issues,” a player (name withheld) told Hindustan Times. “The people we have complained against are very powerful. It is not easy for us to go to the police and then proceed with legal cases,” she added.

There are charges against the coach too. One young girl, seeking state selection, alleged she was humiliated and harassed but there was no justice from either the DSA president’s desk or from the women’s selection committee.

“I was harassed because I complained about Nagendra Singh,” she wrote in the letter, which also alleged that coach Paritosh Kumar Sharma too tried to molest girls. “I was mentally shattered and also thought of committing suicide.” Sharma has been apparently sidelined.

“We play in fear, it affects us mentally and that impacts our performance,” wrote another player.

Speaking to this correspondent, Nagendra said charges against him were a “campaign to keep him out of DSA”.

“All the complaints against me are totally wrong and false. These things happen every time I raise my voice against something unjust,” argued Nagendra.

Nagendra, currently the chairman of the sub-junior boys’ selection committee, continues to enjoy DSA’S patronage.

The voices against the current regime are growing and with Chopra unwilling to continue, DSA could see a change in leadership and start salvaging its tarnished image.