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Sumit Antil's complaint prompts quick action: PCI sacks Dronacharya awardee Naval Singh after Neeraj Chopra backs claims
The Paralympic Committee of India has dismissed coach Naval Singh amid allegations of harassment by champion Sumit Antil.
The Paralympic Committee of India has sacked Dronacharya awardee coach Naval Singh with immediate effect after harassment allegations made by Paralympic champion Sumit Antil, in a case that has quickly turned into one of the most serious athlete-welfare controversies in Indian athletics.
The matter had already gathered major attention after Antil lodged a formal complaint, and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra backed it. With PCI action against Naval, the issue has moved well beyond a private athlete-coach fallout and into a full-blown institutional crisis.
Antil’s complaint put the issue in the open
Antil’s complaint centred on allegations of repeated verbal abuse and mental harassment. In the strongest statement to emerge from the episode, Antil told PTI, “He mentally harassed us and abused our, as in mine and Neeraj’s families. He seems mentally unstable.”
Antil went further and described what he alleged was a pattern of behaviour that kept escalating over time. “He would deliberately share recordings of his abusive rants with our managers, so that they reach us,” Antil said, adding that the situation had worsened to a point where he had no choice but to approach the authorities.
Why the case as become bigger than a coach-athlete dispute
The case has landed hard because Naval Singh is not a minor figure in the system. He is a Dronacharya awardee and a known name in Indian javelin circles. That made the complaint far more significant than a routine dispute inside a training setup. It also gained further traction because reports said other athletes, including para throwers, supported Antil’s position, widening the issue beyond one athlete’s grievance.
There is also an important structural layer to the controversy. Naval was not operating as a straightforward PCI-appointed para coach at the time. He had been working in the broader athletics coaching ecosystem and was linked with Sachin Yadav, who finished fourth at the 2025 World Championships. That overlap added complexity to the issue, but it did not stop PCI from taking immediate action once the allegations came under its lens.
What makes this story bigger is the stature of the athletes involved. Neeraj Chopra remains the biggest face in Indian athletics, while Sumit Antil is one of the country's premier Paralympic champions and a major medal hope going forward. When names of that scale go on record in support of a complaint, the system cannot dismiss it as internal noise.
For now, the allegations remain allegations, and the larger process may still move towards further enquiry. But the immediate message from PCI’s decision is clear. A decorated coach has been removed, athlete testimony has forced the issue into the open, and Indian athletics is being pushed to answer a difficult question about conduct, accountability and how much players have had to endure before action finally arrived.
