An online badminton session of senior coaches, including India’s national head coach Pullela Gopichand, witnessed an embarrassing moment on Thursday after pornographic images infiltrated into the session which was being conducted on Zoom platform. The incident of alleged hacking happened days after the Union government issued a warning to the Zoom app users that the video conferencing application is not safe for usage.
The one-day session was organised by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
Besides Gopichand, top Indonesian coaches like Agus Dwi Santoso and Namrih Suroto were also part of around 700 members who attended the session. Reports claimed that several women coaches, children and parents were also online during the video conferencing proceedings.
"Santoso, the new Indonesian coach, was the resource person when pictures started appearing on the screen. There was a momentary gap and then the images resurfaced. This happened a number of times," a participant told a national daily, adding that the issue remained intermittent throughout the proceedings, making Gopichand quit the session.
Several coaches grumbled that the organisers should have heeded the home ministry’s advice and chosen some other platforms to conduct the programme.
Meanwhile, the SAI issued a statement denying the reports of hacking and claiming that it was a technical glitch.
"In one such online workshop which was being held for badminton coaches on Thursday afternoon, there was a sudden technical malfunction leading to some unwanted material popping up on the screen. The session was being conducted by a senior coach of the Badminton Association of India, who also had the online technical control of the session," the SAI said in a statement.
It said the SAI’s IT department is investigating the issue in detail.
Last week, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued an advisory that the Zoom video conference is not a safe platform. Since the lockdown was imposed to contain the COVID-19 spread, several key departments and ministries had been using it.