Editorial Comment: Excluded from sport

At the Sydney Paralympics in 2000 some members of the Spanish basketball team feigned learning disabilities to get into the event. So, thanks to a few cheats, all sports people with learning disabilities have been excluded from international competition, including next year’s Beijing Paralympics. It’s outrageous that, seven years on, this issue has not been resolved and is now being used to exclude children with learning disabilities from a major UK youth sport event. What a terrible message to send to young people with learning disabilities who want to get involved in sport.

We are told the matter should be sorted out in time for the 2012 games in London. Let’s hope it can be dealt with long before then, not least because it could jeopardise the participation of children with learning disabilities in next years UK Schools Games. That would be both unjust and unforgivable.

Related article
Learning disabilities: Children excluded from UK scool games

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Janet Snell