Tuesday turned into Bangalore’s day of shame with the opening ceremony of the IWAS (International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports federation) Games showing a disgraceful side of Indian sports organisation. With around a thousand elite international athletes, officials and delegates attending the event, the Sree Kanteerava Stadium presented a picture of chaos and utter disregard for the needs of the disabled.
In fact, so poor was the planning of the hosting organisation (PCI: Paralympic Committee of India) that the wheelchair-bound deputy president of IWAS couldn’t ascend to the VIP dais because of the absence of a ramp. He had to be physically lifted up the stairs by a few people. A furious Maura Strange, IWAS executive director, who was watching the spectacle, commented tersely: “This is ridiculous”
Many participating teams weren’t assigned liaison officers, with the result that disabled athletes and coaches milled around at the venue wondering how they would travel to their hotel and back. In fact, the IWAS executive director too wasn’t assigned a vehicle until the opening ceremony was due to start!
It is no accident that the Paralympic Committee of India has stumbled so badly during the opening ceremony. The PCI is led by a politician, Rathan Singh, and the build-up to the event has been characterised by utter indifference to its scale. Although the PCI won the bid for the Games in 2007, no work was done on the venues until a week ago. Having suddenly realised that the Games were around the corner, the PCI started readying disabled-friendly toilets and ramps at the stadium only five days ago.
IWAS technical director Jan Bockweg was so upset with the organisers that he threatened to return home on Monday. On Tuesday he was scathing in his criticism of the PCI: “They do nothing. The wrong people are in the wrong place. You need workers, not political people. And you have only political people here. A lot of the people who are here will be at the Commonwealth Games. They will tell this story back home. You call that good PR?”
The sporting action will begin on Wednesday and will last a week. It will require a miracle for all the events to proceed smoothly.
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