Table Tennis Federation of India’s CoA to draw up ethics code for national coaches
The Delhi High Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run the table tennis federation will formulate a ‘code of ethics for coaches. The CoA headed by Gita Mittal, former J&K High Court chief justice, met coaches from across the country in a virtual conference on Sunday.
The court had made observations on conflict of interest among national coaches while ruling on the petition filed by women’s No 1 Manika Batra. Mittal praised the coaches but said it was important to draw up an ethical framework based on international practices.
“Sports coaching is recognised as a profession and there must be a code of ethics,” she said. “Coaches need to look beyond personal favourites and their self-limited boundaries to ensure the best talent gets chance at every level… while making assessments, evaluations, team selections, please be fair. Let us create an environment for coaches to carry out their jobs with honesty and integrity.”
The court, while ruling on Batra’s submission that she was pressured into conceding a match by national coach Soumyadeep Roy during the Asian Olympic Qualifiers against one of his trainees, had objected to coaches running academies being appointed to the national teams.
On the Table Tennis Federation of India’s (TTFI) argument that other federations too made such appointments, Justice Rekha Palli observed, “I earnestly hope that this order will act as a wake-up call for the government and all sports federations to take corrective steps in this regard.
Justice Palli, in her order, said a coach cannot run his or her academy while serving as national coach. “A conflict of this nature has to be avoided. Our sportspersons surely deserve better.”
Mittal said: “I found one (code of ethics) in Singapore that encapsulates the best practices.”
She said court judgements must be incorporated into the sports code. The other CoA members,
senior advocate Chetan Mittal and SD Mudgil, also addressed the coaches. The CoA recognised that private coaching was a source of livelihood and assured it would look into the issue.
“We will also see how we can enable coaches to get regular training and keep pace with international level,” Mittal said.
The CoA said they were working to streamline the process for selection, camps and domestic tournaments. The senior nationals, scheduled next month, has been deferred as many players will be competing in international tournaments.
“Players have requested personal coaches and sparring partners. We need your help to make the correct recommendations,” she told the coaches.
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