NRAI assures female shooters of safety and stronger SOPs after coach assault case

NEW DELHI: A recent case involving a national-level shooting coach allegedly sexually assaulting a minor shooter has sparked concern about athlete safety in the sports community, highlighting a need for stricter measures and accountability within sports arenas to protect young sportspersons.

Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo on Monday assured female shooters that shooting remained a safe sport and said the federation would ensure that such incidents don’t occur in future by further strengthening its Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) governing the safety and security of female athletes both at the ranges and spaces where the teams were put up.

“I want to be very sure that anyone, be it the coach, official or administrator within the NRAI, would face action if found involved in such malpractices.

There is no place for such incidents in our shooting community. The federation will ensure that the ecosystem around the shooting sport remains safe and nurturing one for our female athletes. Such incidents should be immediately reported to the NRAI and we will take the action swiftly and justly.

Such people don’t have any place in our ecosystem,” Deo told TOI on the sidelines of the launch of UP Prometheans franchise in the Shooting League of India (SLI), scheduled from Feb 16-26, 2026.

“Our SOPs are clear that no shooter should visit or be found in the rooms of officials, coaches or the members of the opposite sex when they are part of the national team. Whoever defies our SOPs, strict punitive action will be taken by the NRAI. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards such incidents. We will further be strengthening our SOPs,” Deo added.

Reacting to the incident, Deo said that “no formal complaint was sent either to the NRAI or the federation’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC)” by the 17-year-old victim. “It’s a normal course of events once any athlete wants to complain against a coach or an official. In this case, we got to know about the particular allegation after an FIR was filed. Now, it’s the job of the Haryana police to investigate the matter. Irrespective of that, we have suspended the individual concerned and he was asked to go on leave without pay until such time that the authorities complete their investigation.

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