Paralympic gold medalist Sumit Antil has accused Dronacharya awardee’s coach Naval Singh of mental harassment and verbal abuse in a complaint filed with the Sports Authority of India (SAI). Antil, backed by Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, claims that Singh’s behavior has harmed the athletes.
Antill, gold medalist at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Paralympic Gamesalleged that Naval had repeatedly targeted him and Neeraj Chopra and alleged that the coach crossed professional lines by abusing their families.
“He mentally harassed us and abused ours, just like in mine and Neeraj’s family. He seems to be mentally unstable,” Antil told PTI.
One of India’s leading medal hopes in the F64 category for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics, Antil said the situation escalated over time, prompting him to lodge a formal complaint with the authorities.
“He would deliberately share recordings of his abusive language with our managers so that it would reach us.
The SAI confirmed that it had received the complaint and said that the matter was being discussed with the federation concerned. However, the body clarified that Naval Singh is not its employee and is currently engaged by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) as part of a national coaching camp.
“A complaint has been received from Paralympic gold medalist Sumit Antil about alleged verbal abuse by coach Mr. Naval Singh. The complaint has been supported by other athletes including Neeraj Chopra,” a SAI source said.
“The coach in question is not an employee of SAI and is coaching another top athlete in the National Coaching Camp organized by AFI.
Naval, who was awarded the Dronacharya Award in 2015, is currently coached by Sachin Yadav. Sachin finished fourth in the World Cup last year ahead of Neeraj Chopra, who finished eighth as he battled injury.
Antil said that Neeraj Chopra and his fellow para spearmen Navdeep Singh and Sandeep Chaudhary also supported his complaint.
“It’s been a week since we complained to DG SAI (Hari Ranjan Rao) and CEO TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme). CEO TOPS (NS Johal) wanted us to (make) a compromise at the very first hearing.”
“We ignored the matter for a long time but decided to complain when it became too much. I filed a complaint and Neeraj bhai, Navdeep Singh and Sandeep Chaudhary supported it.”
Antil also questioned the response of the authorities after the complaint was filed.
“The thing is, if athletes of our stature don’t hear what others can expect. The complaint has not even been confirmed yet.”
He further expressed concern about the coach’s intentions and suggested that his actions could be related to competing interests.
“And I am not able to understand why this coach is doing what he is doing. Maybe he wants Sachin Yadav to beat Neeraj bhai because Sachin is training with him,” he claimed.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
17 Apr 2026 21:57 IST
