Mencap has called for
the ban on athletes with a learning disability from competing at
the Paralympics to be lifted ahead of the start of this year's
games in
Beijing next week.
People with learning disabilities were first barred after the
2000 Paralympics in Sydney when it was discovered that members of
the Spanish basketball team had falsely claimed to have a learning
disability. Thousands of pounds of lottery funding for athletes in
the UK has since been lost.
A decision on whether to overturn the ban will be made by the
International Paralympic Committee after the Beijing games
closes, on 17 September.
Disgrace
Mencap chief executive Jo Williams said it would be a “terrible
disgrace” if athletes with learning disabilities were not allowed
to compete in the 2012 London games and called on the government to
reinstate lottery funding.
Williams added that many athletes had become disillusioned and
were dropping out of sport altogether. Chris Pugh, who competed at
Sydney 2000 and who currently holds two world records in swimming
events, said he now no longer trains after being told that he was
barred from competing in Beijing.
The
International Sports Federation
for Persons with an Intellectual Disability was responsible for
monitoring eligibility of athletes for the Paralympics before being
suspended in 2001. The IPC said that the verification process had
been “grossly mismanaged” and that fair competition could not be
ensured until the organisation got its act together.
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