The sport practiced by people with disabilities, protagonist in the Open Administration Week

The CSD, in coordination with the Spanish Paralympic Committee, the ONCE Social Group, CERMI and different sports federations has organized the event “Support for the sport of people with disabilities, sign of identity”

With the aim of valuing the actions promoted by the CSD for the dignification and recognition of the sport practiced by people with disabilities, spaces have been provided for information, exhibition, and exhibition and sports practice of specialties such as soccer for the blind or wheelchair basketball

The Secretary of State for Sport, José Manuel Franco, and the President of the Spanish Paralympic Committee, Miguel Carballeda, agreed to highlight the advances that have been made in the sport of people with disabilities and to continue working in this direction

Madrid, March 21, 2023.- The Superior Sports Council (CSD), in coordination with the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE), the ONCE Social Group, CERMI and different sports federations has organized, within the framework of the Open Administration Week, the event "Support for the sport of people with disabilities, sign of identity". The objective has been to value the actions promoted by the CSD for the dignification and recognition of the sport practiced by people with disabilities.

The event has been closed by the Secretary of State for Sport and President of the CSD, José Manuel Franco, and the President of the CPE, Miguel Carballeda, who have maintained a dialogue on the evolution, changes and current situation of paralympic sport. “We have done a lot, but it is a long road and we will walk this road with everyone’s help: athletes, institutions and sponsoring companies. Together, we will all be able to make the situation of Paralympic sportsmen and women even better. It is an ethical and moral obligation,” said Franco. In this regard, he recalled the progress that the new Sports Law has brought in this area. “The law of Sport has special importance in terms of equality, health and inclusion and, with the regulatory development, will be deepened in these three great lines,” he added.

For his part, Miguel Carballeda highlighted the CSD’s commitment to paralympic sport. “We are moving forward a lot, fast and changing for the better,” he said. In addition, he recalled that the CPE aims to improve the journey of athletes with disabilities. “That is why we need the help of the institutions and the sponsoring companies,” he said.

“Support for the sport of people with disabilities, a sign of identity”

The event, which took place at the Sports and Cultural Center of the ONCE, has had different spaces in which attendees have been able to know the actions that have been carried out in terms of inclusion by the Government, as well as participate in some of the sports practiced by people with disabilities. In the information area, panels have been arranged with the main milestones of government action in the matter: the increase of investment in paralympic sport with games such as the one assigned to the Elite Team Spain, of more than 1.6 million euros; the advance in the conditions of disabled athletes to achieve the equalization with the Olympics in the granting of economic prizes for the medals achieved in the Games; the constitution of the “Inclusive Sports Table”; the improvement of the accessibility of the High Performance Centers thanks to the European Funds; or the recognition of the sport of people with disabilities in the new Sports Law.

For its part, the area of exhibition and sports practice has become an experiential space of playful activity in which attendees have known football for the blind or basketball in the wheelchair, among other sports practiced by people with disabilities. The Spanish Federation of Sports for the Blind (FEDC), the Spanish Federation of Sports for People with Physical Disability (FEDDF), the Spanish Federation of Sports for People with Intellectual Disability (FEDDI), the Spanish Federation of Sports for People with Cerebral Palsy and Acquired Brain Damage (FEDPC) and the Spanish Federation of Sports for the Deaf (FEDS) have been in charge of organizing these exhibitions.

In addition, there has been an exhibition space in which the protagonists have been the testimonies of those directly affected, the athletes with disabilities. Sergio Ibáñez, silver medal in paralympic judo at the Tokyo Games; Deliber Rodríguez, athlete with intellectual disability and triple world medallist; Iraide Rodríguez, multiathlete with a spinal injury who practices cycling, saddle tennis or skiing; Miguel Úbeda, football goalkeeper for the blind; and Eva Moral, paralympic triathlete who achieved bronze in Tokyo 2020, were some of the participants.

Open Administration Week

The Open Administration Week, which began yesterday, Monday, March 20, will last until the 24th. It is an initiative promoted worldwide by the Open Gov Week, whose main objective is to bring Public Administrations closer to the citizens, based on the principles of Open Government: transparency, accountability, citizen participation, public integrity and collaboration.