IOA panel dismisses claims of gender discrimination by Lovlina Borgohain: Report

Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain

The three-member committee of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), which was established to look into Lovlina Borgohain's claims of impolite behavior by Arun Malik, the executive director of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), has not found any evidence of "gender-discriminatory" behavior by the official towards the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist boxer.

The committee, which included a female advocate, IOA's Athletes Commission vice-chairperson Sharath Kamal, and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) CEO Nachhatar Singh Johal, cleared Malik of gender discrimination charges but suggested that the BFI and all other national sports federations (NSF) take a more accommodating stance when interacting with their athletes and adopt a "athlete-centric" and "athlete-first" approach, according to a report in the Times of India.

During a TOPS meeting via Zoom on July 8 this year, Lovlina, a former middleweight world champion, accused Malik of acting in an arrogant and impolite manner that demonstrated gender bias. The IOA, led by PT Usha, established a panel headed by the sports ministry in response to her allegation.

The report mentioned the committee looked over the 45-minute video footage of the meeting to investigate Lovlina's claims, according to a person with knowledge of the development.

Although Malik spoke forcefully and authoritatively a few times during the discussion and disagreed with Lovlina's request for Pranamika Boro to be her personal coach for the boxer's own advantage and improvement, it was pointed out that his actions could not be interpreted as disrespecting Lovlina, the report added.

"The video recording helped the committee reach an informed decision. The committee didn't find any evidence to relate Malik's behaviour to one having gender-discriminatory overtones. However, he should have been more flexible in listening to what Lovlina was demanding and shown calmness of mind. One must be restrained when talking to a female athlete, that too of Lovlina's stature. The committee's job was to investigate and give its recommendations to the IOA and the ministry. The final call or any action in the matter will be taken by Usha and the ministry," the report quoted an official as saying.

The committee reportedly sent its report to the ministry and the IOA a while back, but the results have not yet been made public. Additionally, Lovlina and Malik have not been informed of the results, the report stated.