Thread by @Jussri

THREAD on what goes unreported about #DisabilitySport (here #WCBB) from developing countries like India. I woke up to an American colleague's exciting tweet about conducting research at this 'international inaugural event' and the #ScholarActivist in me cannot keep quiet. 1/

https://twitter.com/ICRC_nd/status/1589517694797160448

@_IWBF and @ICRC_nd including @Paralympics have for years noted that inside India, the #SportGovernance of #WCBB is a crumbling structure with no real grassroots development happening in true sense. Several complaints have been brought to their notice 2/

In private "off-record" conversations many international experts who carry pride in introducing #DisabilitySport to people from marginalized communities like India agree that @wbfi_info needs lot of work internally to call itself truly committed to the sport's development 3/

Yet, year after year, no one takes a stock of what has improved or what has not for #WCBB at the grassroots in India. In this thread, I will tell you what I know has been happening on the ground that no one likes the funders and international bodies to know from India 4/

A few weeks ago I got a call from @saipadma that she received a communication from Matilda Fonceca, Joint Secretary, @wbfi_info asking to sponsor a woman player that Sai Padma has known for years to attend a training camp in Jammu & Kashmir 5/

The reality: there is no year-long programming or functioning state units from which the current women's team competing at this event is formed. SaiPadma was contacted because with about 4 days of gap to travel over 1000 kms, the female player would need support 6/

Additionally, this was a woman who was employed full-time in South India and was required to travel to North India with a notice period of about 4 days. Also note she was not training in #WCBB regularly. However she had the required classification number to complete the team 7/

Beyond that Matilda (part of @wbfi_info leadership) or anyone else did not bother the costs that would burden her to make the trip, the loss of wages, or how she would be impacted with her health going from South India to Northern India in a post-COVID context 8/

I don't blame Matilda. Note she is a woman with disability who has zero sport management or leadership training to build and grow a team. She is not paid or compensated for her effort to create the team. All she is needed to do is give the leadership a woman's team 9/

I was expectedly furious listening to this repeating scenario + @saipadma and myself agreed that it was not fair to put the woman with disability through this nightmare to make it to a #Srinagar camp while #WCBB was not on her radar all year 10/

There was no working mechanism in place to ensure her safety even if we conducted an overnight fundraiser to send her to the camp. And from a development POV, the woman player had in past engaged in #WCBB and does not have access to a local club or team that meets regularly 11/

The current women's team from #India playing at this event is a potpourri of women with disabilities who do not have access to year-long programming. Many are self-made and show up for these events as they seek visibility for their own hard work 12/

If they take a #DisabilityRights perspective and demand for more that what is offered, they are often shunned from further engagement. This has happened to more women than that is reported. There are no functional state units from where these women come 13/

And when players are often 'herded' to these "last-minute" events that are created to satisfy international excitement, @ICRC_nd or @_IWBF is looking the other way at how these teams arrive on the scene 14/

Their excuse: We do not involve in the internal #SportGovernance issues of organizations that are developing the sport 15/

And when we have to look at who can legally mandate functioning State units and year-long programming, we arrive at @paralympicindia - an NSF that itself does not have functioning state units. PCI is currently one of the collaborating partners 16/

The men's team from #India is a product of a few groups who have year-long access to #WCBB as these are historic programs that are partially also supported by funding from India's Veterans Affairs type of set up to rehabilitate injured army personnel (read PRCs) 17/

Additionally, over the last few years, an NGO based out of #Coimbatore has been pushing for a team to develop out of Tamil Nadu. More experienced players from the PRC network joined this team to train at a local university to which the NGO has connections 18/

Many people who @wbfi_info, @Paralympicindia + @ICRC use to 'develop' sport in India are uncompensated for their efforts, lack sport development training and do not have an understanding of the #DisabilityRights perspective while pushing for #WCBB international events 19/

Without real functioning state units, despite millions of Indian rupees being spent on #WCBB, over the years, no real development has happened at the grassroots. There were other 'international' events too in the past. This is first where more countries are involved 20/

The issues surrounding #GenderEquity at this event are obvious to many of us women who are working at India's grassroots. We are helpless to create solutions as Indian government included, the sporting scene in India is largely apathetic to women's participation 21/

@wbfi_info 's website, in violation of India's sport code lacks information that is mandatorily required to be declared. As a voting (?) member of NSF @ParalympicIndia it is unclear how they are allowed to operate without having State units information public 22/ CC:@DGSAI

For a #WCBB player from India to enter the sport, it is impossible to access the community unless you are in the organization controlled Whatsapp network. There is no other democratic access. There is no @wbfi_info led induction of players and year-long programming 23/

This behavior is not new. Infact, it is modelled after the way #Paralympic Sport is developed in India. And leading this from the front is @Paralympics supported NSF in India which continues to violate disability rights while also accepting annual government funding 24/

Since 2016, I have been a vocal critique of how WBFI's #SportGovernance behaviors do not place #DisabilityRights in priority. My critique has forced @wbfi_info to restructure how they publicly operate but improvements are largely cosmetic 25/