Disabled athletes up in arms

More than 50 athletes out about 500, who took part in these games have written a letter addressed to President of the National Paralympics Committee of India. In the letter signed by as many as 56 athletes, have alleged that medical classification of the various categories of disabled were not done as per the required standards of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Even the qualification mark or the standard for each event was not provided to the participants leaving them guessing where they stand as per the IPC guidelines.

`Rebel’ participants also alleged that the equipments were not used as per the IPC requirements. They also alleged that the organisers did not call any official from participating teams to brief them about different aspects of the conducting of the games. Lodging and boarding facilities were so poor that sometimes blind and wheelchair participants had to go as far as two kilometres to get food. They claim that due to these circumstances, some of the deserving athletes lost a chance of representing the country.

Two of the participants based in Mumbai, international swimmer Rajaram Ghag and athlete Satya prakash Tiwari have written to the Sports Minister requesting him to direct the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to reconduct the selection trials and send a competent squad to Sydney Paralympics for better results.