4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Apr 18, 2026 12:09 AM IST
Double Paralympic gold medallist javelin thrower Sumit Antil, supported by former Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, has accused Dronacharya awardee coach Naval Singh of mental harassment and verbal abuse. In a written complaint to the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Sumit has mentioned verbal abuse on multiple occasions, dragging his family into it.
“I trained under him (Naval) in 2018-19, but even after leaving him, he constantly abuses us verbally. He gets drunk and goes on to abuse the families of different athletes, including mine, Neeraj bhai, Navdeep, and others. He (Naval) would deliberately share recordings of his abusive rants with my manager,” Sumit told The Indian Express. “I have made this complaint only after it went beyond a certain level. Paani sar se upar aa gaya tha ji,” he added further.
SAI accepted that they had received the complaint but stated that they had nothing to do with Naval Singh, and he was engaged with the Athletics Federation of India to train Sachin Yadav as part of the national coaching camp. “A complaint has been received from Sumit Antil, Paralympic Gold Medalist, alleging verbal abuse by Coach Mr Naval Singh. The complaint has also been supported by other athletes, including Neeraj Chopra. The coach in question is not an SAI employee and is training another leading athlete as part of the National Coaching Camp organised by AFI. The complaint has been received against the coach, and the matter is being duly taken up with the federation,” a source from SAI said.
Apart from Neeraj, Paralympic gold medallist Navdeep Singh and Para Athletics World Championship medallist Sandeep Chaudhary also endorsed Sumit’s complaint. “We all, Neeraj Chopra, Sumit Antil and Navdeep Singh, have written to SAI and authorities about this issue. I don’t know whether Neeraj bhai trained under Naval sir or not but me, Sumit and Navdeep trained under him in the past. But then he would call us and use abusive language as well words for us and also our families. It has happened a lot of times, and sometimes he calls in a drunken state,” Sandeep told The Indian Express.
Sumit also complained of ignorance by SAI and termed the response as an ignorant one. “I have a simple question: if someone is verbally abusing me, who do I go to? How does it matter who employs the coach? If he is training in a SAI premise and harassing athletes who are part of TOPS, I think the only way is to file a complaint with SAI,” he explained.
Double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra got involved in the melee when Sumit sent him the recordings and asked for his support. “I told Neeraj bhai what was happening. He heard the recordings and immediately told me that I will support you. He also wrote a letter in support of my complaint asking SAI to take stern action,” said Sumit.
In the mail accessed by The Indian Express, Neeraj wrote, “I write this as an athlete who has had the honour of representing India at both national and international levels, and who firmly believes that sport must uphold dignity, discipline, and respect. The statements made by coach Naval Singh are not just inappropriate; they are disgraceful.”
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“If elite athletes like Neeraj bhai and Paralympic medallists are not immune to this kind of harassment, what will happen to the junior kids?” Sumit concluded.
(With inputs from Nitin Sharma)
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
