Code of conduct need of the hour

Tribune News Service

Karam Prakash

New Delhi, June 7

The allegations of sexual harassment levelled by female wrestlers against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh are not stray incidents in the world of sport in India.

Last year, a senior female cyclist had alleged that a chief coach entered her room forcefully and made suggestive gestures. Another case of sexual harassment — involving former India hockey player and Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh — is being probed in Haryana.

Ironically, despite the rising cases of alleged sexual harassment, India still does not have ‘Sports Code of Conduct’ guidelines. This is unlike many other sporting nations. Under the US wrestling federation guidelines, for instance, no one-to-one interaction is allowed between coach and athlete behind closed doors.

In India, however, even the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which is responsible for the training of elite players, does not have any code of conduct guidelines.

The academic wing of the SAI — the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala — also does not have any section relating to guidelines while handling female players in the syllabus of its flagship diploma programme in coaching. Sources revealed that at one point, the SAI was mulling over formulating guidelines for male coaches working with female athletes. However, the plan did not materialise. The guidelines which were planned to be introduced included no one-on-one coaching of female players and no one-to-one interaction with a coach, support staff or national federation official.

NIS produces hundreds of coaches in over 20 disciplines every year. Many of them train athletes in national camps. However, none has been taught any code of conduct, especially while training female athletes.

When asked about a sports code, a CWG medallist who recently passed out of the NIS diploma course said, “Even during the national camps when I was an active sportsperson, I never heard about any code of conduct. During the diploma course, we never studied any such stuff.”

A senior coach attached to a national camp said, “There should be a code of conduct for coaches, supporting staff and federation officials. In technique demonstration — especially in combat sports that require a physical touch with the athlete — a code is required to avoid any instances of inappropriate touching.”

“Athletes, coaches and sports federation members should be familiarised with the law of the land relating to sexual harassment,” the coach added.

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