The Italian Paralympic Committee (CIP) expresses its most deep and energetic indignation at the infamous incident that occurred this morning at Fiumicino airportRome, in which the Italian FIPPS electric wheelchair football team (Italian Federation of Paralympic Sports in Electric Wheelchairs)”. This is how forceful the Italian Paralympic Committee has been through a statement after Easyjet has denied the team boarding its aircraft to Glasgow (Scotland), where they had to play an international tournament prior to the World Cup. The Italian Authority for Civil Aviation (ENAC) announced this Monday the opening an investigation into the airline.
The FIPPS had requested and previously obtainedalready in April of last year, the formal authorization from EasyJet to transport six disabled footballers, along with wheelchairs for daily mobility and six special wheelchairs for competition. Despite initial confirmation and a subsequent certified email sent by the Federation prior to departure to avoid any logistical setbacks, the team encountered a barrier at the boarding gate.
At 10:15 the airline announced that it could not board the entire delegation, claiming that the plane (an Airbus A320) could only accommodate five wheelchairs. The solution offered by EasyJet was to leave an athlete for another flight and send the wheelchairs with him, but destined for Edinburgh, not Glasgow. “It’s an insult to sporting merit, competitive preparation and the respect deserved by a national team that represents Italy throughout the world,” they say from the Italian Paralympic Committee.
A serious offense against dignity
“It constitutes a serious offense that violates the personal dignity of our athletes and the fundamental values of sport in general, and of Paralympic sport in particular,” the statement added.
It constitutes a serious offense that attacks the personal dignity of our athletes.
The president of ENAC, Pierluigi Di Palma, considered in a statement that “the right to mobility must be guaranteed for all passengers without exception.”
“If we detect non-compliance by EasyJet with the European Regulation for the protection of people with reduced mobility, we will adopt the corresponding measures, including the sanctions provided for by current regulations,” he warned.
Chairs are not an ‘extra’, they are an extension of your body
The president of the Italian Paralympic Committee (CIP), Marco Giunio De Sanctishas considered what happened in a statement as “an unacceptable shame.” “What happened today at Fiumicino airport is an unacceptable shame that It takes us back decades in terms of human and social rights. Just last night I was with the national team players: they were excited about this journey, full of passion and determination, and I can imagine the deep and painful disappointment they feel right now. Incidents like this demonstrate, once again, that equality of dignity is, unfortunately, only formal and not yet substantive,” he adds.
It takes us back decades in terms of human and social rights
“We are not talking about a simple travel problem or a delay in the delivery of luggage: denying boarding to athletes and the assistive devices with which they live and compete means denying their own autonomy and identity. For a Paralympic athlete, wheelchairs are not an ‘extra’ or bulky luggage, but an extension of their own body“he asserted.
In addition, it has already opened an investigation to “verify possible non-compliance and determine what went wrong in the assistance reservation procedure and in the communication sent to EasyJet in relation to the mobility devices that had to be shipped.”
