Mallakhamb Federation's President resigns due to harassment allegations

A complaint has been filed against the official by eight athletes, some of who are minor.

Ramesh Mandoliya resigned from his position as the president of the Mallakhamb Federation of India (MFI) on Sunday after being accused of sexual harassment. The official had to leave the office on Sunday after the MFI's special general body meeting. 23 of the 25 state member associations voted against the president in the special general body meeting.

For the uninitiated, eight athletes lodged a complaint against the veteran sports administrator. As reported by the Times of India, the complaints mentioned Ramesh Indoliya touching the athletes inappropriately and making them feel uncomfortable. The complaints were filed individually by the athletes, each narrating their ordeal. Of the eight athletes, one is a male and some are minor. All hail from Ramesh Indoliya's home state, Rajasthan. The athletes have decided against lodging an FIR against the government official as they did not wish to take the matter further.

The sports ministry has stripped the MFI's recognition as a national sports governing body in the country, thus putting an end to all the grants provided by the government. MFI didn't let the news come out in public. However, a copy of the letter from the sports ministry that informed the MFI of their decision was procured by the TOI.

According to them, the letter written by Sudhir Kumar Gupta, the under-secretary to the GOI, MYAS, stated, "Upon examination, it was found that the constitution of MFI is still not in line with the sports code, 2011. It was also noted that MFI has not taken any steps to form a complaint committee/sexual harassment committee to enquire or to dispose the complaints received against the president. Therefore, it has been decided to withdraw the recognition of MFI until its constitution is amended in line with NSDCI and sexual harassment committee is formed to enquire/dispose of the complaints of sexual harassment against the president of the federation."

Mallakhamb has been designated for development as part of the national government's ambition and the flagship of the Khelo India initiative. It will make its debut at the National Games Gujarat 2022, which will take place from October 7 to 11, 2022 in Ahmedabad.