The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has decided to recall the entire Indian team that went to Slovenia for training and participating in competitions after a woman cyclist accused head coach RK Sharma of ‘inappropriate behaviour’. The Indian team consists of five men and one woman cyclist. The team went to Slovenia on 15 May and were to return on 14 June as per the earlier schedule. SAI has already recalled the cyclist who made the allegation and constituted a committee to probe the matter.
Onkar Singh, President of the Cycle Federation of India (CFI), said that SAI has decided to end the current tour midway. “The SAI official told CFI on Wednesday morning that the entire team, including coach RK Sharma, would be immediately recalled from Slovenia,” Singh said. It is also learned that SAI had also sent a separate message to Coach Sharma to return at the earliest.
The tour of Slovenia was organized to help the Indian team prepare for the Asian Track Cycling Championships to be held in the national capital from June 18 to 22. The female cyclist had informed Sai about the coach’s inappropriate behavior during her stay in Slovenia and was so scared that she was in danger of her life. The matter came to light on Monday after SAI issued a statement saying that it has called back the player to ensure his safety.
The complainant claimed that the coach forced her to share the hotel room on the pretext that the accommodation was arranged on the basis of accommodation of two persons in a single room. Cy later arranged a separate room for the player at his request, but the coach did not take him to Germany for an event with other team members due to resistance.
The complaint said the coach threatened the cyclist that he would ruin her career by removing her from the National Center of Excellence (NCOE) if she did not sleep with him. The cyclist then decided to leave the training camp keeping his safety in mind. However, it is revealed that Sai had actually arranged a separate room for her as she was the only female member of the crew and there was no need for her to share the room with anyone. A SAI source said, “SAI had already directed that the player under consideration be given a separate room as she was the only female member of the squad.”
Coach Sharma will now have to appear before a five-member probe panel, which will be headed by the head of SAI’s internal sexual harassment committee. The CFI has also constituted a four-member committee to probe the matter and has promised full support to the player. The committee includes its general secretary Maninder Pal Singh, Kerala Cycling president SS Sudish Kumar, Maharashtra cycling team head coach Dipali Nikam and assistant secretary VN Singh.