3.10 How can a code of conduct help to manage some serious cases?

‘One of our highest profile Board members, Dalbir, is also a senior coach. He’s a familiar figure at major tournaments.

We recently held our under-20s finals, with men’s and women’s teams from across the country brought together for a weekend. On the second day the competition leader called me. He was agitated. The previous night, staff had been called to the women’s sleeping quarters. Dalbir had been seen leaving one of the bedrooms and staff found a very distressed young woman. Her belongings and bedding were all over the place – like there had been a fight – though she had no obvious physical injuries. The young woman didn’t want to say anything about what had happened except that Dalbir had been there and she never wanted to see him again.

I came to the same conclusion as the competition leader – this young woman may have been sexually assaulted by Dalbir. This needed to be investigated, although I was also aware of Dalbir’s power and reputation within the organisation. I consulted my contact in the police – and he said that unless the young woman was willing to make a complaint against Dalbir – or we had clearer evidence of an assault – they could not take any action or even investigate the incident.

When I spoke to the young woman and her parents – they were upset and angry – but they did not want their daughter to speak to the police or get involved in any legal action against him. They demanded that we ban Dalbir from coaching and from the organisation.

I spoke to Dalbir, and he denied doing anything wrong. He said that he had gone into the room because he had heard the young woman crying and wanted to check that she was ok. He had no idea why she was so upset. Dalbir was very angry. He threatened me about what would happen if I took the matter further. He saw the police’s refusal to get involved as proof that there was nothing the organisation needed to investigate.

So, despite my suspicions, there was nothing more I could do along the legal path. However, like all the other coaches, Dalbir had signed the code of conduct which had been adapted for staff involved in trips away with athletes. This clearly stated that coaches were never permitted to enter the bedrooms of athletes alone.

As a result of this – and even though we had no way to prove or disprove our suspicions of a sexual assault by Dalbir – we were able to act on Dalbir’s admission that he had broken one of the code of conduct’s important rules. A disciplinary investigation took place – which Dalbir refused to cooperate with, and the outcome was that Dalbir was banned from attending any activities involving athletes. However, before we could formally inform him of this, Dalbir submitted his resignation as a Board member and as a coach, claiming he had been the victim of a witch-hunt – and he left the sport.’