UK Deaf Sport in funding crisis

Exclusive by Paul Carter

The chair of the governing body of deaf sport in the UK has criticised the government for a “lack of support and recognition”, claiming that funding priorities have been focused on the Olympics and Paralympics.

Craig Crowley, the chair of UK Deaf Sport, said he understood that the organisation’s government funding from UK Sport of £42,000 per year would expire on 31 March, as Disability Now went to press.

He added that this would mean UKDS had no choice but to consider not sending a GB team to take part in the Deaflympics (formerly the World Games for the Deaf) in Taipei in 2009 as many athletes would be unlikely to be able to afford the £3,000 cost per person estimated by the GB Deaflympic Organising Committee (GBDOC).

In a letter to sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe, Mr Crowley said that “UKDS now appears to be facing a situation whereby your department [the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)], UK Sport and the home country sport councils are all avoiding any responsibility for our elite deaf athletes who choose to participate in the Deaflympics rather than the Olympics or Paralympics.”

He told Disability Now that the attitudes and actions of the DCMS and UK Sport towards deaf sport were “grossly unfair and unacceptable”, given that UKDS had followed their “strategic modernisation guidelines” for the last five years.

He added that he was convinced they had “discriminated against deaf athletes’ equality of opportunity to succeed in their sporting fields”.

In his response, sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe said that the “difficult decision” taken by UK Sport had come from a need to focus on support for elite Olympic and Paralympic athletes in the lead-up to Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Mr Sutcliffe said he “fully understands” concerns about the impact on the long-term development of British deaf athletes.

He added: “I recognise it is important that they are given the opportunity to compete at the Taipei Deaflympics in September 2009 and I remain optimistic that they can obtain the necessary funding in the 19-month period leading up to that date.”

He said UKDS should contact the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) for further advice on funding options.

“I would again like to praise the good work of UK Deaf Sport in providing opportunities for deaf people to participate and helping to find future deaf athletes of tomorrow; including those already on UK Sport’s World Class Pathway,” he said.