Women coaches must with teams for all travel: SAI advisory to NSFS

HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Taking note of recent complaints of sexual and mental harassment from female athletes, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has issued an exhaustive advisory to all national sports federations (NSFS) to ensure a safe environment for women athletes.

The advisory makes it mandatory for all NSFS to ensure a woman coach accompanies female athletes during domestic or international travel. The NSFS are also advised to appoint a compliance officer at all coaching camps and exposure trips, primarily to be in constant communication with the athlete and report any cases of violations to the concerned authorities.

“The roles and responsibilities of the Compliance Officer include communicating regularly with athletes and others to ensure that the guidelines are being followed as well as enforce the Standard Operating Procedure on prevention of sexual harassment in sports. The Compliance Officer, among other duties, should ensure that if any member reports a violation, the same should be reported earliest to the responsible authorities,” SAI said in a statement on Wednesday.

All NSFS, besides augmenting women coaches and support staff, are also required to design and present “pre-camp sensitisation modules” to all athletes, coaches, and support staff before a national camp or an overseas exposure trip.

SAI’S advisory comes barely 10 days after it received a complaint from a female cyclist, alleging inappropriate behaviour from a coach during the team’s exposure camp in Slovenia. The contingent was immediately called back and the coach’s contract, following an inquiry, was terminated. On June 11, the cyclist lodged an FIR against the coach after being advised to do so by the committee that probed the allegations.

A week back, a sailor accused a coach of putting her under “mental pressure.”