UKDS Press Release

 

British deaf athletes are fighting for the chance to participate and compete in the Taipei Deaflympic Summer Games in September 2009, mainly because the British Government has withdrawn funding from the Great Britain Deaflympic team.

 

Both the Great Britain Olympic and Paralympic Associations receive funding from UK Sport on an annual basis; however, athletes and volunteers from the Great Britain Deaflympic team have to secure their own financial support. Deaflympic athletes cannot join the Paralympic Games because there are no other deaf teams or athletes to compete against in those Games.

 

Established in 1924, the Deaflympics is the second oldest multi-sport and cultural event on earth and is one of the world’s fastest growing sport events. More than 3,200 Deaf athletes and officials from 67 countries participated in the previous 20^th Deaflympic Games in Melbourne, Australia (2005).

 

The Great Britain Deaflympic Team contributed towards one of the most successful Great Britain efforts at any Deaflympic Summer Games. The 100-strong Great Britain Team, comprising of 80 athletes competing in eight different disciplines, secured a total of 16 medals – five gold, five silver and six bronze medals. This established Great Britain 10^th in the overall Medal Table, ahead of many countries with bigger teams including the hosts Australia, and was seen as an outstanding achievement by the former Minister for Sport, Mr Richard Caborn MP.

 

Gerry Sutcliffe MP, Minister for Sport, in his letter to UK Deaf Sport on the 29^th February 2008 stated that the “difficult decision taken by UK Sport has come from their need to focus on a programme of support for their elite Olympic and Paralympic athletes in the lead up to Beijing 2008 and London 2012”.

 

For decades, the Government have been promoting and encouraging ‘equality’ in the whole of Great Britain, yet they have turned a deaf ear to Deaf athletes with the disparity in quadrennial and annual Deaflympic preparation funding. The cost of winning a medal during the Melbourne 2005 Deaflympic Games stood at £1,400 of the Government exchequer’s money per athlete and this is in stark contrast to the £1.6million per medal the British Government contributed to the British Olympic athletes during the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. Winning a Deaflympic medal is only a tiny fraction of the Government’s funding compared to the costs for the Great Britain Olympic team.

 

Dreams, blood, sweat and tears may come to nothing for deaf athletes and the Great Britain Deaflympic squad will have to consider pulling out of the Taipei Deaflympic Games if there is no financial support from the Government within the next few months. Lack of funding from the Government may cause negative psychological and emotional repercussions for Deaf athletes and the Deaf community.

 

“The Great Britain Deaflympic team is in a dire situation, and UK Deaf Sports has exhausted every avenue in trying to seek funding for our Deaf athletes. I fear our dreams of participating in the Games will be shattered” says Philip Gerrard, Great Britain Deaflympics Organising Committee Chair.

 

Those wishing to offer sponsorship opportunities for the Great Britain Deaflympic team should contact Philip Gerrard for further details.

 

- ENDS -

 

 

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

 

Mr Philip Gerrard

Chair of Great Britain Deaflympics Organising Committee

E-mail: philip@deafdirect.org.uk

Telephone: 01905 746301

Website: www.ukdeafsport.org.uk
Campaign Team: ukds.campaign@hotmail.com