Since this morning, many of you have been asking me about the scene that “played out” at the inauguration of a sports centre in Crete, with the President of the Hellenic Paralympic Committee, standing like a poor relation, under the podium of the dignitaries, although he was an official guest and speaker at the event. You have seen the photo, the relevant “French” to clergy, local officials and the Deputy Minister, you have said, as I have said.
What I did not hear, except in my mind, is the wrong attitude of the President of the Hellenic Paralympic Committee, who is perhaps the biggest “culprit” for this miserable scene. This is because he is the one who should have been the first to react, since the organizers of the event had not considered that you cannot climb stairs with a wheelchair. In my opinion, as a representative of the disabled athletes, he should have taken the microphone before the ceremony started, said that what was happening was unacceptable and got up and left. And not only did he not do so, but when he took the floor, he “stoned” the deputy minister, saying “With your attitudes you are treating us equally. It has been our great complaint over the years. We have not been treated equally and with you, Lefteris Avgenakis, we have found it. And this is very important, not only for athletes with disabilities, but for the whole society.”.
But my Mr. Kapellakis, what you have experienced proves exactly the opposite of what you said in your “incense” speech. It proves that we are being treated absolutely unequally, even at an opening event for an accessible sports centre where a non-accessible stand was erected. So let's see what we encounter when we come out of this accessible venue. The chaos we encounter is the answer you know and I know.
And you didn't have the courage either to leave or to point out and censure the fact in your speech. It's a pity, because the testimonies about you are positive.
And as for the Deputy Minister and his public apology and his reference that “The culture of inclusion is our philosophy from the first day at the Ministry of Sports, but also a key policy axis of our government”, only causes laughter, leaving a bitterness for the mockery of the disabled.
Korina Theodorakaki
