The future of 15 youngsters who have obtained a coaching diploma from the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University is in limbo after their applications for jobs with the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) were rejected on Monday. The SDAT recognises only the National Institute of Sports coaching diploma offered by the Sports Authority of India.

The SDAT has initiated moves to recruit around 90 coaches in various disciplines. Certificate verification and practical tests were conducted on Monday. Shock was in store for sports university alumni when they went to the recruitment centre in the morning. “I was devastated when an SDAT official told me that my diploma was of no use. I felt like the ground beneath me was crumbling,” one of the affected persons told DC.

He said the sports university had “misled” him during the time of admission. “The university told us that all its courses were equivalent to SAI’s. We have the advertisement issued by it as proof. We were never informed at any point that there would be a problem regarding recognition,” he added. “Had I known that the courses offered by the university weren’t recognised, I would have tried to get into SAI. What will I do now with a diploma which is of no value?”

Sports university vice chancellor K. Vaithianathan lobbed the ball into SDAT’s court. “We have written to the authorities concerned in the state government for recognition. Both the university and the SDAT are the units of the state government. Where will our students go if they find no takers within Tamil Nadu?” he asked.

According to Mr Vaithianathan, the university syndicate has key state government bureaucrats on board. “The SDAT member secretary and the secretary of Youth Welfare and Sports Department are part of the syndicate that approves the courses of the university. Now the SDAT is saying no to our students,” he said.

The vice chancellor, however, admitted that he was aware of the recognition issue much earlier. “Students, too, had apprehensions. That’s why we stopped enrolling students for the diploma course in the last two academic years. I appeal to the SDAT to relax its norms and consider the diplomas issued by us,” he added.

SDAT member secretary M. Vijayakumar squarely blamed the VC for the plight of the students. “The VC is a member of the SDAT executive committee. He never raised the issue. His students are suffering because he hasn’t done his job properly. He is shirking his responsibilities by talking about the composition of the university’s syndicate. It is not professional to blame others for his fault,” he said.

Mr Vijayakumar said he was only keen on getting top quality coaches for the SDAT. “I’m not running a private company to take decisions on my own. My duty is to look after the interest of the SDAT. I want the best for the SDAT. I have nothing against sports university students. I’m only following the service rules. If the VC gets the rule amended through proper channel, the SDAT will only be glad to consider the sports university diploma holders,” he added.

According to sources, the SDAT had told the sports university alumni during general certificate verification a year ago that their diplomas wouldn’t be recognised. Mr Vaithianathan had reportedly pacified the aggrieved students by saying that they wouldn’t face any problem during recruitment.