Cerebral Palsy Sport Ireland

“The last 13 months - the worst period in my Paralympic career.

I have mixed emotions at this moment, at the end of 13 months I am delighted I have won my battle to get the decision of ineligibility made by CPISRA; at Beijing 2008 overturned. I have been re-instated permanently as a CP 8 with immediate effect, a decision which is uncontestable. My delight is tempered by the fact that CP-ISRA are unwilling to apologise to me and the Irish team for the proven flawed decision, that ruled me out of the Beijing Games and the subsequent International Championships which are currently underway in Holland. I hope that CP-ISRA can still look within their organisation and find the honesty and sense of decency to admit that I was wronged in Beijing. This will allow me draw a complete line under the events of Beijing 2008 and move on.

It has been a long, frustrating 13 months with numerous false starts and a few dark moments along the way. It all started in Beijing on Sept 8th 2008 with the news following the Iran game that I had been made ineligible to compete further at the Paralympic Games. The reason given by the Chief Classifier, Ms. Terrie Moore; was that my disability was not at a level (in their opinion) which had a demonstrable impact on my performance on the field of play, however they stated explicitly that I had met the medical criteria for eligibility 100%. The next few days are a blur of disbelief, frustration, helplessness as I tried to come to terms with the fact that a subjective decision, based on a flawed process, had ended my Paralympic career prematurely. Many different emotions flowed through me as I tried to answer people’s questions as to why I had been made ineligible. I didn’t have an answer, night after night was spent wandering around the Paralympic village trying to make sense of each days happenings. There were mis-communications, rumours and counter-rumours regarding my eligibility. My family were besieged by media interest at home in Ireland looking for an answer to a question even I couldn’t answer, given the sparse information we had received from CP-ISRA.

I have always been very proud to represent my country, my county and the local area of Whitegate where I grew up. But for the only time in my life, I can honestly say, when the decision of the classification team was announced by CP-ISRA, I wished I was 1000 miles away from Beijing. I never doubted my own eligibility, however I was facing a political battle and not a sporting one. I have always enjoyed challenges, but this was a political challenge in which I had no expertise, also many elements of it had been taken out of my control by the non-communicative stance taken by CP-ISRA, I had gone to Beijing to compete, and help my team mates to achieve our goals. I did not go there to spend hours trying to get information out of people, who I felt did not really understand the concept of elite sport for athletes with a disability. In my opinion the decision of the CP-ISRA classification team at Beijing had undermined one of the fundamental values of high performance sport; that athletes train to improve their functional ability, in order to move to a higher level of performance. I had spent 28 years of my life doing just that, trying to improve functional ability and trying to manage the effects of my CP on my performance levels.

I stayed throughout the Beijing Paralympics for two main reasons, I felt I had earned the right to be there and also I did not want my case to impact negatively on the performances of the Irish Team, so I put my “business as usual” face on and tried to conceal the turmoil I was feeling inside as much as possible. One of the lowest points I had during the Beijing games, happened before the Ireland vs Great Britain game. In a match I should have been playing in, I ended up picking up the cooling jackets from the floor of the dressing room with our team doctor, while our national anthem boomed out in the background. It was then I truly realised the impact of the decision of the CP-ISRA classification team. My four years preparation for Beijing had been reduced to this, picking up cooling jackets from a dressing room floor while my team-mates prepared themselves for one of our biggest games of the tournament. The sense of disbelief and injustice at the decision of the CP-ISRA classification team was overwhelming as I listened to our national anthem deep within the team dressing room. As I stood there questions came flooding into my head. Why had I made all those sacrifices over the previous 4 years? Why had I fought so hard to get myself healthy again following the injury problems that had effectively ended my athletics career in May 2008? Should my Paralympic career have ended like this?  What had I done to deserve the decision that was cast upon me?

A worrying trend started in Beijing, CP-ISRA were less than co-operative towards me and the Irish team when we looked for more information, and answers to what I felt were very relevant questions. In my opinion I adopted a fair, open and honest approach to my requests for further communication with CP-ISRA. I was willing to answer any question they had of me, however progress was very slow as the Beijing Paralympics slipped by.  We had one meeting towards the end of the tournament with the full classification team which was chaired by the President of CP-ISRA, Alan Dickson, from the outset it was clear that they were standing 100% over their decision without room for any compromise. They admitted that the issues raised by my case, had shown that certain aspects of the classification process needed reviewing and changing. So it made it all the more frustrating to me to hear their rigid stance on their decision, which had been made through a fundamentally flawed process.

I left the Beijing Paralympics with a head full of questions and “what if’s?” everything I had believed in sport & life had been bruised and battered. I could not escape this gnawing feeling that a mistake had been made and I had been wronged. Naturally people that had supported me in my local area and throughout Ireland during my career, wanted to know what the real story was in Beijing, they were confused by it all. I had gone from great highs at the Athens Paralympics to the lowest of lows in Beijing. I spent weeks answering people’s queries - the why’s, the how’s and the what happens next’s, I tried to be as honest and fair as I could be to people in my answers. But as the weeks went on, with no further communication from CP-ISRA, I became more cynical and bitter about the events of Beijing, that sense of being wronged was eating away at me. For my own sanity and for the people closest to me, I needed to get closure. I was also concerned that unless I raised my concerns about the events in Beijing, what happened to me could happen to another athlete in the future. I could not let that happen.

So in late November 2008 I wrote a letter to the President of CP-ISRA and the Executive Committee of CP-ISRA, just prior to their General Assembly, outlining all the issues related to my case, the hurt and frustration their decision had caused me and asked them to review my case as soon as possible. I also asked that they engage me in more regular communication and treat me as an athlete rather than an irritant to them. I received a response from the President in early December stating that CPISRA were committed to reviewing and evolving the CP football classification system. He was in the process of setting up a working group to look at all aspects of CP Football, the group were asked to report back to CP-ISRA by April 2009. He also made us aware that the CP-ISRA Chief Classifier in Beijing, Ms Terrie Moore, had stepped down. He promised to follow up with an update after the general assembly. So facing into 2009, I had some hope that I was slowly on the road to closure. Obviously the timescales being discussed frustrated me as my career was ticking away.

I waited and waited for a response following the General Assembly, nothing arrived. So in another moment of frustration, I sent another email in early Feb 2009 requesting a full update. The only response I got was that the working committee were now set up and working and were due to report back at the end of April, but to expect slippage on that target date. I was to be notified of their report findings. My hopes really sank when I received the email, I felt nothing had progressed that was directly going to resolve my case or give me answers to the questions Beijing left behind.

Two weeks later on February 24th I was offered an independent review (with no proposed date attached) by Alan Dickson on behalf of CP-ISRA. Up to that stage CP-ISRA were adamant that the correct decision had been made in Beijing, so it was unclear as to why they were offering me an independent review. In my quest for closure, I had no other options but to accept the independent review, I asked Alan if he would put the offer on paper and send it to me. My request was never honoured. I never received any further update on the findings of the working committee from CP-ISRA. Following another query I sent through at the end of May requesting a further update. I was told I would not be receiving an offer on paper, that emails he had sent were official. He also stated that Carol Mushett-Johnson, the new Head Classifier for CP Football, would be in touch with me in due course. Considering what had happened and I had been told over the previous 8 months, I was sceptical that would happen.

However on the May 28th 2009 I received an email from Carol Mushett-Johnson introducing herself and requesting my contact number. So on June 1st 2009 (9 months after Beijing) I had my first phone call from Carol Mushett-Johnson. We spoke for nearly 3 hours, she asked me questions about the events of Beijing and I asked her questions about how she felt she could resolve things. From the first few minutes of conversation on the phone, I got a sense that she was quite willing to listen to my point of view. She showed a human, athlete conscious side that had been distinctly lacking in my previous correspondence up to then with CP-ISRA. She assured me that she was committed to resolving the issues around my case.

So between June and Oct 26th Carol Mushett-Johnson and I had numerous phone calls and emails in an effort to set up the independent classification review. During this time I could finally see that distinct progress was being made, it was clear from our conversations she was doing a lot of work in the background both on my case and on the classification system for football as a whole. I have no doubt that consistent direct communication between us on the phone defined exactly what the issues were in my case and in the classification system as a whole. It’s just a pity that it took 9 months for someone from CP-ISRA to actually call me directly.

Thus I was reinstated as a CP 8 in Papendaal Holland on Oct 26th by a senior classification team led by Carol Mushett-Johnson, under an evolved classification system with tighter eligibility guidelines. In my opinion; my reinstatement under these new tighter rules show how wrong the decision in Beijing was. It has cost me 13 months of my career, wrongly removed my right to play in Beijing and cost a lot of money and time in trying to get closure on things.

I want to personally acknowledge the support I have received from PCI and CPSI, especially Liam Harbison, Dr. Joe Conway & Paul Cassin, over the past 13 months. It is a measure of both organisations belief in me and the fact that we had been wronged against in Beijing, that they gave me their unwavering support. I also want to acknowledge the contribution made by Carol Mushett- Johnson, her courage to engage with me openly, honestly & respectfully, in an attempt to bring closure to the events of Beijing, even throughout a difficult personal time for her. I cannot thank enough my family and girlfriend for keeping me sane throughout the 13 months, I dread to think where I would have ended up if it hadn’t been for their support. I cannot underestimate the values of perseverance, honesty, hard work and respect for other people given to me by my parents. They have served me well throughout my sporting career and have been essential to me over the past 13 months.

I am hoping that the issues raised in my case, have been a stimulus for CP-ISRA to review and evolve the current classification system to ensure this never happens to another athlete or their family and also help guarantee the future of CP Football. I do hope that the evolution of the classification system continues, until the system reaches levels of objectivity and transparency that does not penalise players unjustly in their efforts to make CP Football a truly elite sport. To this end I feel the input of players and coaches is crucial, I am quite willing to offer any input or insight I can into the future evolution of the system. Hopefully guaranteeing the future of CP Football; for athletes with cerebral palsy throughout the world.

Life is about learning from your mistakes, the first step in that learning process is to recognise a mistake has been made. I hope following my reinstatement yesterday; that CP-ISRA recognise a mistake was made in my case in Beijing. As an organisation, CP-ISRA list inclusive, athlete centered, partnership, quality, openness & innovation as their values. I hope within these values the powers that be in CP-ISRA find the guidance to issue a public apology to me, my family and the Irish Team for the wrong decision imposed in Beijing. Thus showing me the respect that I have shown CP-ISRA throughout my career. It would help me to get complete closure on the events of Beijing, and allow me to finally lay the ghosts of Beijing to rest which have tortured me for the past 13 months. ”

Additional Information:

The Paralympic Council of Ireland was founded in 1987 and is responsible for the preparation and management of the Irish team in the lead up to, and at, the Paralympic Games, and the development of Paralympic sport in Ireland .   Olympic style games for athletes with a physical disability were first held in Rome in 1960. Today, the Paralympics are elite sport events for athletes with physical and sensory disabilities. The Games emphasise the participants athletic achievements rather than their disability. Athletes compete in various classes of competition, and are classified according to their disability.  The movement has grown dramatically since its first days. The number of athletes participating in Summer Paralympic Games has increased from 400 athletes from 23 countries in Rome in 1960 to 4000 athletes from 153 countries in Beijing in 2008. London will host the 2012 Games. Ireland has a proud tradition at the Games, winning 5 medals (3 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze) in Beijing.

What is Classification?

Classification is a structure for competition. Paralympic athletes have an impairment in body structures and functions that leads to a competitive disadvantage in sport. Consequently, criteria are put in place to ensure that winning is determined by skill, fitness, power, endurance, tactical ability and mental focus, the same factors that account for success in sport for athletes who are able-bodied. The purposes for the criteria are two-fold:

• Defining which impairment groups can compete in the various sports

• Grouping athletes in classes defined by the degree of function related to

the impairment and/or specific to the tasks in the sport.

The process that is put in place to define who can compete and to group the Athletes is called Classification.

INFO SOURCE - Paralympic Council of Ireland - www.pcireland.ie