4 juin 2005
4 juin 2005
Top diver competes under threat of ban
Had sex with girl, 15, he coached
Suspension stayed pending appeal
As Arturo Miranda steps on to the springboard this weekend in London, Ont., to seek an individual berth on Canada's team for next month's world aquatic championships, he faces the possibility of being banned from the Montreal event.
Miranda is competing at the world trials while appealing a six-month suspension handed down in March by a Diving Canada disciplinary panel. He was censured for bringing "the sport of diving into disrepute" after a diver he has coached complained that he had sex with her in her hotel room during the winter nationals in Calgary in March, 2004.
The diver was 15 years old. Miranda was 33.
The girl, who does not want to be named but is one of Canada's most promising divers, is also competing at this weekend's competition.
She told the Star her part-time coach and frequent teammate knocked on her door late at night.
"He was 33 years old. ... It's just not right. You have to trust people will realize that and do what's right."
Miranda declined an opportunity to present his side of the story.
"No comment," he said, when he was asked twice in person for his version of events by the Star at last month's Canada Cup in Montreal. "I'm not doing it at all."
Miranda coached the girl on several occasions, notably when she won a silver medal at a big international event three years ago. The two are also members of the same diving club.
The relationship between athletes and coaches is a hot issue in sports circles. This week, the Canadian Professional Coaches Association issued a statement, unconnected to the Miranda case, in which it addressed sexual relationships.
Quoting its code of ethics, the association stated that coaches must be "acutely aware of power in coaching relationships and, therefore, avoid sexual intimacy with athletes, both during coaching and during that period following coaching when imbalance in power could jeopardize effective decision-making."
After returning home from Calgary, the young female diver told her parents what happened with Miranda and they complained to Diving Canada and to Calgary police. (The age of consent for sexual activity in Canada is 14.)
No charges were laid, but the Diving Canada disciplinary panel decision ruled unanimously in March � one year after the incident � that Miranda committed a "serious" breach of the organization's Code of Conduct and ordered a six-month suspension to start April 1.
However, because of his appeal, Miranda has not missed a competition. On Wednesday, he was named to represent Canada at the Montreal world championships in the three-metre synchro diving event. He competes for a spot tomorrow in the three-metre individual event.
Benoit Seguin, Diving Canada's acting executive editor, said yesterday an appeal of a suspension meted out by the association is underway, but declined to name the individual or say when a resolution is expected.
In making its original ruling, the Diving Canada disciplinary panel determined that a sexual encounter between Miranda and the girl took place and, given their age difference and that their relationship "has an element of a coach/athlete relationship," that "this constitutes conduct on Mr. Miranda's part which is unreasonable and which brings the sport of diving into disrepute."
The disciplinary panel further stated Miranda's conduct is a breach of the code because it could "seriously jeopardize the ability of the sport organization to attract new participants" and potentially "threatens the ongoing viability of the sport and the sport organization."
According to the disciplinary panel's written decision, Miranda's lawyer argued that his behaviour could not be a breach of conduct and did not harm the organization's reputation "because it was known only to the parties � that is, it was a private matter between individuals."
The disciplinary panel disagreed, ruling "it does not matter to what extent the conduct becomes known among the diving community or beyond. It is the conduct itself which is prohibited by the Code of Conduct."
The panel consisted of chairman Bernie McCashin, a past president of Diving Canada; Anne Merklinger, top executive of the Canadian Canoe Association; and Sue Hyland, a former Canadian Olympic official.
Miranda, who made the Canadian Olympic team in 2000 but wasn't allowed to compete because he didn't have clearance from his native Cuba, is nearing the end of a 24-year diving career. He signed a deal in January to work for the dive division of Acrostar, a Toronto-based company that develops shows for such theme parks as Wonderland.
The girl's family refused to reveal what was discussed during the disciplinary panel hearing because of a confidentiality agreement.
But in an interview with the Star at the family home, the girl provided her version of events.
The night began with the girl doing homework with Miranda's roommate in the male divers' room while Miranda was out. She said her own roommate, an older national team member, had to return home that night because of an injury. She said she later watched TV with Miranda and his roommate while sitting on their bed and then returned to her room to go to bed.
She said Miranda knocked on her door shortly after that, saying he wanted to discuss her event the next day. She said she let him in and he sat down on her bed and began talking.
"I went into the bathroom and he came behind me and he took my hips and turned me around and kissed me. I pushed him away and I said, `What are you doing? No! This isn't right.' I was shocked. I had no idea where this was coming from. I can't put into words what I was feeling. I was so confused.
"I went back into the room and I just totally pushed it out of my head. `Okay, that didn't happen. Maybe, he had a little too much to drink at dinner. We'll talk about this and then he'll leave.'"
She said they began talking again about her diving and watching some TV, but then Miranda made another pass at her.
"I felt pretty powerless. I was like, `Okay, I'm in a hotel room and no one's outside. If I scream, nothing's going to happen, so I don't see the point in doing anything.' But the first time I thought I had made myself clear. I said `No' pretty forcefully. And he looked at me and he was like, `Sorry, my bad.'
"I went through all the possibilities when it happened. `Oh God, what do I do? Should I scream? Will anyone hear me? Is it worth it to struggle?' I was thinking I still have to dive the next day. If I come to the pool with a black eye ... `Oh yeah, I tripped in the morning getting up.' It's not going to work. It's not a believable story...
"When it was done, he was like, `Okay, don't tell anyone. Bye. Don't say a word to anyone. Get me a glass of water.' So I got him a glass of water and he left. And I didn't say anything about it until I got back home."
The girl says she still lies awake some nights thinking about what she could have done differently, wondering if she inadvertently led on Miranda, whom she once wrote a high school report about because she regarded him as one of her heroes.
"It was only a few weeks later that I finally realized, okay, he just wanted something."
She said she still doesn't understand why she didn't put up more resistance when Miranda made a second pass.
"That's something that's been going through my head a lot," she said. "I remember what happened, but you know when you have a dream and it's like you watching you? That's what it was like. It was like I was there, but I wasn't there. When it was happening, it was like I was watching this happen and I was just like motionless. I was like a corpse."
Her self-esteem plummeted afterward. Three months later, she hit rock bottom when she finished dead last in an event in which she was a two-time champion. But with her new coach, she has slowly built herself back up.
"I'm very strong head-wise," she said. "When it comes to stuff like that, I don't like appearing as a weak person."
Since launching their complaint 14 months ago, the family has grown frustrated waiting for a resolution. They say they are concerned about Miranda coaching other young divers. They've spent more than $36,000 on legal fees and have felt ostracized by the diving community.
"No one wanted to confront the issue," said the girl.
She switched coaches to avoid diving at the same time as Miranda at their home club. But his schedule kept changing and she'd phone her mother to pick her up if he was there at the same time. The girl's mother recalled the frustration she felt after a meeting at the club held to determine a schedule for her daughter.
"I said to my husband afterwards, `Do you know what it is? I feel betrayed. If I feel betrayed, how can she feel?'"
Seguin, Diving Canada's top official, said the organization was doing the best job it could and that it was scrupulously following its own policies. Without discussing specifics or the individual involved, he said any decision will not be affected by the upcoming world championships.
"We have to take the proper steps," Seguin said. "It's taking the time it's taking. It's not that Diving Canada is trying to wait until after the worlds. We're doing this responsibly. It's nothing about not wanting to deal with the situation."
Canadian team diving head coach Mitch Geller, who says he knows no specifics of the Miranda case, doesn't believe Diving Canada is equipped to deal with the girl's complaint.
"The type of activity that's alleged, this is beyond us, that's the way I see it," said Geller. "I am incapable of grappling with an issue like this. It's out of my jurisdiction.
"This is not policy sport in terms of somebody qualifying for a team, or somebody being overlooked in a selection, or not receiving their funding, or their coach isn't teaching them the right stuff. What do we do with this? We as an association are trying to grapple with an issue that we've really not got any experience or expertise in."
The family say Diving Canada told them in March there would be a delay in imposing Miranda's sanction so a letter could be sent to member clubs advising them of the ruling. They said to their knowledge only their own club received the letter announcing the suspension.
"I was very upset the letter never touched on the reasons for the decision, it never said the breach of conduct was of a sexual nature," said the father. "At the end of the day if he'd got caught smoking drugs, he would have got a two-year sanction. This is unbelievable."
Notre revue de presse sur cette affaire
une page mise en ligne par SVP
Consultez
notre ENCYCLOP�DIE sportive