The Authorities of Liberia Wheel Chair Basketball Federation have expressed frustration over what they termed as complete discrimination against them by the Vice President for Operations of the Liberia Basketball Association, Edwin Fahnbulleh. According to the President and Founder of the institution, Ambassador S. Lionel Johnson and the head coach Emmanuel Menso, the LBA Vice President for Operations once asked them to stop their practices at the Sports Commission on grounds that the court is not for disables.
According to them, Mr. Fahnbulleh statement is totally against the people with physical disability; something they see as totally wrong to attribute to them, and as such, they have complained him to the National Human Rights Commission, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the International Wheel Chair Basketball Federation in Geneva, Switzerland.
Reports231 has establish that the statements of the LBA Vice President for Operations towards the physical challenge team is against the United Nations Convention on human rights, (the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery, torture and inhumane treatment, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, The right to equal treatment before the law, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination).
“People can’t buy disability; disability comes at the results of accidents or by birthday but if Mr. Fahnbullah think, we bought physical disability upon ourselves, we want the United Nations Convention on human rights to plead our case because Liberia is a signatory to that document” they alarmed.
The team challenged VP Fahnbullah that their chairs are rubber cover and cannot spoil a rubber patch, they expressed that other people were also practicing at the court when Mr. Fahnbulleh asked them to leave because of their conditions. They noted that the court belong to the government and people of Liberia and not a single person. “We brought the male under 23 Lone Star team to practice for the upcoming South Africa 2021 International Wheel Chair Basketball Championship in December”, the team noted.
In respond, the Liberia Basketball Association Vice President for Operations Mr. Edwin Fahnbulleh admitted of asking the officials and players of the Liberia Wheel Chair Basketball Federation to leave the sports commission on grounds that their wheel chairs were messing up the flow.
” Oh yes! I did ask them to leave the court but I never discriminated them as they claimed. Their wheel chairs were actually messing up the flow for us which I planned a meeting with them to discuss for me to fix the court around the Barrack Young Controllers sports pitch so they can move there. I also have a daughter and she is a disable. And so why should I discriminate disables when I am also a father of one of them, he said”?
The male under 23 wheel Chair Basketball team is practicing for the December 2021 tournament in South Africa.
Reported by Sports Director: Sylvester Tamba
Email: stamba498@gmail.com
Phone number: +231776687195
Whasap number: +231776687195
