In relation to letter from Claire falls re ASC axing of the Pararoo program: 1. With regard to this comment: ...decisions are made in relation to priorities based on submissions from the governing bodies responsible for each sport... The proposal put to the AIS from the FFA, with regard to the Pararoo program, was bias, neglectful and discriminatory, The Pararoo part of the proposal was underdone and underdevelopedas stated by Matthew Favier in the press. The Pararoos have the potential to achieve more Winning Edge targets than the Socceroos and yet because the proposal was completed by ex FFA CEO John Boultbee, on our behalf, we missed out in favour of able bodied football programs, which is both unfair and discriminatory.The Pararoos were not even consulted with regard to the Winning Edge proposal, and the details with regard to potential of program development and future success were not even entered into. Put plainly, the then FFA CEO Ben Buckley and Head of High performance John Boultbee didnt care about the program and consequently over looked it. This is not the first time that the FFA Have done this. The same thing was done to the FFA Disability Action Plan 2008. 2. With regard to this statement… Previous allocations of funding for the Pararoos have not been fully utilised by the FFA… Firstly the FFA did not have any input into the funding of the Pararoos even though they received funding from both the government and FIFA and part of this was to go to the Pararoo program but never did. In 2009 the FFA was in a lot of strife financially, so at a time before the Paralympics when funding should have gone into the Pararoo Paralympic preparation they kept it. afr/p/lifestyle/sport/ffa_set_role_gain_at_least_for_socceroos_OobJ9R8RMRxV93dyiRmjbI theaustralian.au/sport/football/ffa-aid-package-prevents-8m-loss/story-fn63e0vj-1226267151917?nk=79e0c76e010ea6601a87ac87ad162278 3. With regard to his comment: … ASC decision by the ASC to not provide high performance funding in 2014/2015 was based on FFA priority and advice from the FFA and APC and application of ASC Investment principles, which are based on the ability to achieve international success… The Pararoos ranked 2nd in Asia before a political manoeuvre by the Chinese disallowed the Pararoos to qualify through Asia like the Socceroos. This manoeuvre allowed China to become the second ranked nation allowing them straight qualification into the world championships, the major qualifier for the Paralympics. Consequently, the Pararoos now have to qualify through Europe, which takes most of their already minimal budget. Even taking this into consideration the Pararoos are still more successful than the 72 ranked Socceroos the U17 Australian team and equal with the Matildas. The Pararoos have qualified for the World Championships the last 8 years and won a silver medal last year in the United Arab Emirates. How can this be seen as inability to achieve international success? What it looks like is that the Pararoos were axed because of the FFA’s discrimination against athletes/footballers with a disability in favour of their able bodied programs. 4. With regard to this statement:… performance requirements for funding are not being met by the Pararoos in order to achieve long term high performance… This has nothing to do with the Pararoos, they have done everything they possibly can to develop the program with little help from both the FFA and to a certain extent the APC. It is the FFA that was responsible for managing the program and did little to meet those requirements even after continual requests from the national coach. Furthermore, even with all these setbacks the Pararoos continued and kept their world ranking. Many young children with cerebral palsy, all around the country support the Pararoos and want to one day play for them. Over 82 thousand people around the country have signed the petition asking for you to review this funding decision. 5. With regard to this statement:…FFA’s grant to prioritise participation in Paralympic football should they choose to do so…. The FFA have payed lip service and discriminated against the Pararoos for the past 10 years they will not support the Pararoos in favour of their able bodied programs.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 22:00:12 +0000
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