NSC denies covering up para swimming coach's sexual misconduct

 

The National Sports Council (NSC) denied covering up alleged sexual misconduct by a para swimming coach.

In a statement, it said that before last week, it never received any such reports against a foreign para swimming coach, reported to be a China national in her 40s.

She also allegedly committed verbal and physical abuse as well as extortion against athletes under her charge, some of whom were underage.

“It also needs to be stressed that NSC never received any reports or complaints from any para athletes about the sexual misconduct by the coach before this recent complaint and claims that NSC had attempted cover-ups or ignored reports have no basis at all,” it said in a Facebook post yesterday. 

NSC said it never compromised or protected any coach, athlete, or officer involved in sexual misconduct in its training programmes.

According to a report from the New Straits Times, some of the incidents had allegedly occurred at the Paralympic Centre of Excellence in Kampung Pandan.

On Monday, Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) president Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin told NST that he had filed a police report regarding the matter.

Meanwhile, the NSC said it was investigating the issue via its committee on misconduct in sports.

“The misconduct claim was received by NSC last week and the committee had begun investigations immediately, including interviewing the relevant parties,” it said.

It is also cooperating with the police, who have opened an investigation paper on the matter and is protecting the privacy of the athletes involved.

It said that it takes seriously all actions to safeguard the safety and well-being of athletes in its programmes, including making it compulsory for escort officers to be with athletes competing outside of the country.

‘NSC seems unconcerned’

Megat told news portal Scoop that the coach, who was hired in 2015, has a bad track record and that the NSC should conduct better background checks.

He also confirmed receiving a report via email regarding the coach’s alleged attempt to rape a male para-athlete.

“It appears that NSC is not concerned about this matter, as the coach has had attitude issues (harassment cases, extorting from athletes, and even threatening her husband) over the past nine years, and they have taken no action despite several complaints from us. 

“NSC should not attempt to cover up any complaints and must ensure they take action. If our association’s reputation is tarnished due to this matter, MPC will not hesitate to sue NSC for damaging our reputation because of their poor hiring decisions. 

“We have the Paris Paralympics around the corner and I do not want the athletes to be traumatised, nor do I want this to affect our preparations for the games,” he was quoted as saying. - Mkini