The incidents range from intimidation and humiliation to violence and even sexual abuse, and the outcomes of the cases differ too, from convictions and coaching bans to fines to being fully cleared of allegations.

Over the past five years, a double-digit number of cases have surfaced in Estonian sports where coaches' actions have met with varying degrees of criticism. Doping scandals aside, these cases can broadly be divided into three categories.

Sexual relations with young athletes

In 2022, the first-tier Harju County Court convicted former Nõmme Kalju football coach Getulio Aurelio Fredo of forcing a minor into non-consensual sex. The charge outlined three cases involving minors, though only one was proven definitively. Fredo, a Brazilian national, was given a four-year and one-month suspended sentence. At that time aged 66, Fredo spoke of his "great love" for a 14-year-old girl, in an interview with Delfi.

"We were together for 6–7 years. Lots of love. I helped her in many ways, but now to talk about it like this… People who knew about it knew we were together, because we didn't hide it. We went everywhere. Everyone saw, and knew. No one said anything, but they knew," Fredo, who was also hit with a coaching ban, said.

Arguably an even tougher case than this involves former athletics coach Mehis Viru, who the prosecution has charged with coercing two of his students into non-consensual sex. In 2023, Viru told Postimees that he had certainly never had sexual intercourse with one of his charges. As of now, that claim has somewhat shifted, and Viru's lawyer told Õhtuleht that all relationships had been consensual.

That case began unfolding in summer 2022, after the junior world championships in Colombia, and when Latvian coach Dmitrijs Milkevičs filed a report with the Estonian athletic association (Kergejõustiku liit). Milkevičs claimed Viru's behavior bore signs of sexual harassment.

The athletics association's investigation revealed that several of Viru's former young athletes had accused him of inappropriate conduct and of both psychological and sexual exploitation. One athlete said they had engaged in sexual intercourse with Viru several times. The association imposed an indefinite coaching ban on Viru, while the prosecutor's office launched an investigation. Court hearings in the case are set to begin on August 4.

Questionable training methods and psychological abuse

Scandal also followed one of the brightest moments in Estonian sports in recent years — the women's epee team's gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, along with Katrina Lehis' bronze in the individual event at the same games. Just months after that triumph, Lehis spoke publicly about her relationship with former coach Helen Nelis-Naukas. Lehis accused Nelis-Naukas of engaging in demeaning behavior and mental abuse, leading to a court application for a restraining order.

Nelis-Naukas herself told "Pealtnägija" in 2021: "Maybe I have sometimes been abrupt, loud — this is elite sport. You can't be lovey-dovey all the time, that isn't viable. Sometimes you have to be direct and say: 'This won't do.' If you want to get anywhere, then it has to be done this way, this way, and this way. If someone interprets that as me demeaning them... that's an arbitrary interpretation, I would say."

No investigation into Nelis-Naukas's training methods was forthcoming, and the restraining order case was dropped on the basis of opportunity. Nelis-Naukas went on coaching, with Nelli Differt going on to become one of Estonia's most successful fencers in recent years. Differt was only just outside the medals in Paris last year.

Nelis-Naukas was also decorated by the Estonian Olympic Committee (EOK) last year, then in February with the top award from the Cultural Endowment Fund's (Kultuurikapital) sports and physical culture fund.

Figure skating coach Anna Levandi did not walk away quite as spotlessly, however. A year ago, some of her former students accused her of both psychological and physical abuse, as well as neglecting their health.

According to the parents of some of these students, Levandi had referred to the young athletes with terms like "retard" ("daun" or "debiilik" in Estonian), and commented in an unflattering way about the appearance of some other skaters and their parents, in front of her students. Levandi also allegedly acted indifferently toward injuries, some of them serious. Levandi denied all allegations at the time.

Levandi told "Pealtnägija" in February 2024 that she was not "a recreational sports coach — everyone knows that. My training is focused on competitive sport, and we've clearly talked about the rules from the beginning. If they weren't willing to go along with part of it, they should have come and said honestly: this is too hard for us. We don't want this; we want to lower our ambitions and our goals. But no one did that."

The committee formed by the figure skating union (Iluuisu liit) after hearing all parties concluded in April last year that the accusations of physical violence had not been irrefutably proven, though at least one verbal conflict was confirmed, which Levandi expressed regret over. She was let off with a warning.

Perhaps the highest-profile case has been that of freestyle skier Kelly Sildaru and her relationship with her father and coach Tõnis Sildaru. This case extends beyond the bounds of a "traditional" sports scandal, involving as it does a tangled web of family and financial issues, which is currently being resolved via criminal proceedings at the Harju County Court.

Physical violence

One of this spring's most talked-about incidents in sports involved Keila Coolbet basketball club's head coach Peep Pahv, who last month struck one of his players, during a second-league match in Haljala. Pahv initially referred to it as contact arising from mutual movement, accusing the media of sensationalism.
Pahv, usually known for his straightforward talk, got vaguer when describing the situation, but denied any striking.

Speaking to Kanal 2 show "Telehommik" he said: "Yes, there was contact, there was a collision, but no attack or anything like that. It was an attempt to stop the player and to calm him down; that's how the contact occurred. I can't deny that I made contact — that much is clear — but a strike or an attack, as the headlines said: That didn't happen."

While the first public video only showed the incident's aftermath, the national basketball association (KML) obtained a second video which did show the incident in full, though that footage has not been made public. The disciplinary committee opted to impose a six-game coaching ban on Pahv and fined the club €10,000, after viewing the fuller footage. Pahv later conceded to Eesti Ekspress weekly that he needs to change his ways.

Even more recently, a case concerning Dmitri Lepp, head coach of Estonia's cadet judo team, broke. At a training camp in Kääriku last year, Lepp allegedly coerced a 15-year-old athlete into a bout with opponents 30 kilograms heavier and three years older, but as punishment. This resulted in a long-term back injury for the junior judoka. The Police and Border Guard Board are currently investigating the details of this incident.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!