Gymnast Aruna Reddy says she was videographed without consent, SAI forms probe panel

The gymnast says she had been videographed without her consent during a physical fitness test conducted in March, 2022.

FILE PHOTO: Aruna Reddy says the incident happened when she had come to New Delhi for a fitness test ahead of the World Cup at Baku.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Friday formed a three-member inquiry committee to look into gymnast Aruna Budda Reddy’s allegations of being videographed without consent during a physical fitness test conducted in March, 2022.

The committee is headed by Executive Director (Teams) Radhica Sreeman. Coach Kamlesh Tiwana and Deputy Director (Operations) Kailash Meena are also members of the committee.

Reddy had levelled her allegations against coach Rohit Jaiswal, who was earlier given a clean-chit by the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI). She threatened to take legal recourse against Jaiswal after GFI passed the buck and the onus of investigation fell on SAI.

The committee will record statements from both parties and file its report by next week.

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SAI has already received a report from the accused coach Jaiswal. “The matter came to light this morning. We have already sought a report from the accused coach. We have formed a three-member panel to enquire into the matter and bring out the truth. The panel has been given time till next week to file its findings,” a SAI official told PTI .

GFI president Sudhir Mittal claimed no such recordings were made during the fitness test that was conducted at the Indira Gandhi Stadium. “I have not spoken to Mr. Patil (Dr. Manoj Patil) or Mr. Jaiswal (SAI coach Rohit Jaiswal) but I did have word with the technical committee members, including the head coach Dronacharya awardee Mr. Nandi (Bishweshwar Nandi) to get a clear picture, and according to them there was no such recording made during the test. So the matter is with SAI now. It is now up to to the SAI to decide on the matter,” Mittal told PTI .

Aruna, a bronze medallist in the women’s vault event at the World Championships in Melbourne in 2018, alleged that the incident happened when she had come to New Delhi for a fitness test ahead of the Baku World Cup scheduled from March 31 to April 4.

‘Zero tolerance’

The SAI official said the organisation has zero tolerance towards such incident. “As an an organisation, we have zero tolerance towards such incident and will take exemplary action if the accused is proven guilty,” the official said.

SAI went on to say that the test was conducted in the presence of a committee constituted by the GFI