India needs to tackle sexual abuse in sports to improve its chances of hosting global tournaments such as the Olympics, a rights group said Tuesday in the wake of the country’s wrestling scandal.
The report by the Sport and Rights Alliance detailed the sexual abuse scandal in the Wrestling Federation of India under former chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a ruling party lawmaker.
It called on authorities to investigate all allegations thoroughly.
“India’s national sport governing bodies have failed to both protect female athletes from abuse and to respond adequately to reports of abuse,” the report said.
“In order to be successful in their bid to host the Summer Olympics of 2036, the Indian government should first ensure that athletes are safe.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed in October India would bid to host the 2036 Olympics, which would make it the fourth Asian nation to stage the Games.
Singh, from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, was charged in June 2023 with sexually harassing and stalking women wrestlers. The 67-year-old has denied he had groped female wrestlers or demanded sexual favours from them. A trial is ongoing.
The court process follows more than a year of street protests against Singh by India’s top Olympic wrestlers and their supporters.
The Sport and Rights Alliance report includes testimony from world champion Vinesh Phogat and Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, as well as other unidentified wrestlers.
A 20-year-old female wrestler, whose identity was not revealed, said Singh “hugged me forcefully without my consent” after she won a medal at a competition outside India.
Singh later offered to buy her nutritional supplements in exchange for “sexual favours”, the wrestler said.
“I was so traumatised and mentally upset that it was difficult for me to focus and deliver to the best of my ability at various competitions” because of his “continuous inappropriate acts”, she said
Phogat, who is competing at the Paris Olympics starting on Friday, said it was unfortunate that Indian society “normalises abuse and harassment”.
“They will only take it seriously when the assault is gruesome,” Phogat said.
“But it is like how we fight a wrestling bout. Whether we lose by one point or by 10, we lose. Whether the assault is big or small, it is an assault.”