Former International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Sir Philip Craven called Group B “the pool of death” after the men’s wheelchair basketball draw for Tokyo 2020 was completed.
The Tochigi stadium does not meet the standards of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) because the view of the wheelchair seats is blocked when spectators in the front row stand up. The ramp leading to the entrance of the spectator seating area is long, and some people have pointed out that it is dangerous. Some people are concerned about the impact on disabled athletes and are calling for renovations.
Kentaro Motomura, the Mayor of Sagamihara City, spoke at a regular press conference on the 20th about the intellectually disabled facility “Tsukui Yamayurien” where 19 residents were killed in July 2016. Mayor Motomura said: “I want to make a comprehensive judgment, including changing the location,” he said. The bereaved families were asking the city to cancel the event.
しかし、一部の障害者権利団体は、非常に多くの障害者が殺害または負傷した場所の近くでパラリンピックイベントを開催するという考えに同意していません。
A disability rights group is protesting against a Paralympic Torch Ceremony that is scheduled to be held near a care home where people with disabilities were killed in 2016.
Flame festivals and visits will take place in 43 of Japan’s 47 prefectures on Aug. 12-16, while the remaining four prefectures–Tokyo, Shizuoka, Chiba and Saitama–where Paralympic Games venues are located, will host similar events and the Paralympic torch relay from Aug. 17, according to a detailed program for Paralympic flame-related events announced by the organizing committee.
Minister Marukawa pointed out that “diversity and harmony are one of the basic concepts of the Tokyo Games,” and said, “I am very disappointed to hear that the Organizing Committee did not make any special efforts to provide sign language interpreters for the ceremony.
Nobuyuki Hirota, head of Sagamihara’s Olympic and Paralympic promotion section, said he remains committed to honoring the victims and survivors of the massacre of disabled people.
The Japanese Para-Sports Association (JPSA), the body that oversees sports for the disabled in Japan, wants to promote the use of the term “parasports” ahead of the Paralympics in Tokyo this summer, according to sources.
International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons voiced his confidence that the Tokyo Paralympics, which was pushed back by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be held this summer as scheduled.
Barrier Free Japan