A university issued an apology after one of its lecturers was accused of being complicit in "hazing" techniques. The football coaching lecturer at the University of South Wales formed a "disciplinary committee" made up of aspiring coaches who doled out humiliating punishments to other students, it is alleged.

One student made a formal complaint about a Uefa (Union of European Football Associations) accredited coaching course in which students on the punishment committee allegedly gave classmates "forfeits" including hard slaps to the back of the head, flicks to the ear, and threats to shave off one student's eyebrow.

WalesOnline has seen emails in which a human resources (HR) manager at the university says an external investigator found "grounds to uphold the concerns". We have also seen an email from one of the course leaders who wrote that the "committee" had been "identified and disbanded" following the complaint. He added that "such behaviour by students (distributing forfeits to other students) is unacceptable and, although the intention may have been to bring students together, it can be seen as divisive and an act of bullying in some cases". Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here

The lecturer who was accused of complicity in hazing "confirmed he was aware of the committee being formed to distribute forfeits to students for poor timekeeping etc," the course leader wrote in an email to the student who had made the complaint. The student also received an email from the university to "sincerely apologise for any distress".

WalesOnline understands the lecturer remains in post. According to an email from the HR manager a "formal disciplinary hearing" took place and "the standards and behaviours expected of our staff was explicitly reiterated".

A university spokeswoman told us: “We do not comment on individual complaints. We are fully committed to upholding a respectful and supportive environment for everyone in our community. We take all complaints involving staff or students very seriously and carry out a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding any formal complaint and take appropriate action where necessary.”

The whistleblower student described the lecturer's techniques as "the single worst example of coach education I have witnessed". In his formal complaint he pointed to a session in which students playing football were allegedly on the end of "obnoxious" remarks from the lecturer such as: "Can you count to two?" and: "Don't give any credit to people for their brains because they'll always disappoint you." He also allegedly made a comment about the weight of one student.

"Those on the receiving end of these comments looked visibly shaken and clearly couldn't keep eye contact with [the lecturer]," the student claimed. "Nobody smiled, nobody laughed. The post-session chat amongst some of the coaches consisted of how if we were playing we would have thrown down the bib and walked off."

During the same session two students on the "committee" allegedly used a wheel-spinning phone app to randomly select forfeits for what the whistleblower described as "dubious reasons". He claimed one student was handed a forfeit for arriving late to a "briefing" from the committee and another got one for wearing sandals to a synthetic turf pitch even though he was not taking part in physical activity. Arguing against a forfeit would allegedly result in a further one being issued although we understand the student threatened with a shaved eyebrow escaped that fate after protesting.

The whistleblower claimed hard slapping to the back of the head and repeated flicks to the ears prompted some students to complain among themselves that they had felt uncomfortable. "Within a couple hours of the course starting the only woman on the course revealed to me that the forfeits made her want to leave and so did I," he alleged. "We were told that if we refused a forfeit it would be a £25 fine and if we spun the wheel and refused to complete the task that would be a £50 fine, the proceeds of which were to go towards 'drinking'. This was hardly suitable for the Muslim contingent in the changing room."

The lecturer was not in the room at the time but the whistleblower felt the culture "came from the top". He claimed: "The lecturer himself stated at the beginning of the course that if forfeits were refused it would be escalated from the committee to himself and that he would simply throw you off the course immediately. This is completely unacceptable behaviour and smacks of a bullying mentality from school, like they are completely unaccountable. It created an intimidating, unfriendly environment which lacked any warmth. I did not feel welcome at all."

He added that he was saddened to see similar methods later being used by some of his classmates – who were mostly in their early 20s – in their coaching during a trip to the USA for a camp run by UK International Soccer (UKIS). "Young, impressionable coaches are likely to look at his conduct and interpret his standards as exemplary," he said. "You can see how this would cause a problem when adults are issuing forfeits to children for not being good enough or missing arbitrary targets. Several younger coaches were pulled up on this during a UKIS training day. Thankfully a UKIS and Manchester United member of staff pulled them up on this."

The student was disappointed not to be informed what action would be taken on his complaint beyond an email from the HR team saying "the standards and behaviours expected of our staff was explicitly reiterated". He felt the lecturer's position was untenable and that the university seemed to be "protecting a bully". The student's dismay grew when he learned his identity had allegedly been disclosed to the lecturer during the complaint process.

"I felt the need to change my modules just to avoid [the lecturer] as he was due to assess one of my modules," he said, adding that the saga had left him exhausted and demoralised. He plans to leave the sport once he finishes his degree.