BENGALURU: An athletics coach has alleged that his trainees are not being allowed to practise at the Kanteerava Stadium in the city after one of them dared to ask a senior officer’s wife, who was walking on a track inside the stadium during their practice hours, to step aside. The officer in question, Youth Services Department Director Anupam Agarwal, has, however, denied the allegation calling it baseless. He contended that the coach Yathish Kumar M B was told to stay away from the stadium as he was not qualified.
Yathish, who runs Athlon Fleet Olympus Sports Academy in the city, said he and his team of athletes, who are preparing for the qualifying rounds for Commonwealth Games were not allowed to practise at the stadium over the past few days, and have been forced to do so at Cubbon Park. “On September 18, one of my female students requested a woman walking on the tracks to step aside as they were practising. We did not know she was IPS officer’s (Anupam Agarwal) wife. The officer took exception to that and we were accused of misbehaviour,’’ Yathish said.
After the incident, a notice was issued to Yathish stating he was not a qualified coach to train athletes at the stadium. “I responded to the notice with documents to prove I am qualified. We also went and apologized to the officer. After that my students were allowed to use the stadium for a few days. Now, none of us are allowed to practise there,’’ he said.
Yathish is training 15 athletes for the Commonwealth Games to held in Australia in April 2018. “Eight of my students are national medal winners and are preparing for qualifying rounds to be held in New Delhi in February,’’ he claimed.
Rubbishing the allegations, Agarwal said the deputy director had complained that Yathish is not a qualified coach to train athletes. “That’s why he was asked to stay away from the stadium while athletes are always allowed to practise,’’ the IPS officer said. Agarwal said Yathish had showed him a certificate to prove he was a qualified coach, but the certificate was not attested by any sports authorities. “The allegation made by Yathish over my wife walking inside the stadium is baseless and I do not want drag this issue any further,’’ he added.An athletics coach, who refused to be named, said Yathish lets all athletes run on the 8-lane track at the same time. “That creates problems for others. There is no discipline among the coaches,’’ he added.
Ashwini Nachappa, former athlete and president, Bangalore Urban District Athletics Association, said she was not aware of the issue. “I haven’t heard about it since I am in Coorg. But if such things happen, the coaches would inform me,” she added. VR Beedu, athletics coach at Karnataka Athletics Association, said that Rajyotasava practice had made them change their schedule, adding that there were no problems.