Sportifs Sourds en colére et la Pétition

France, May 24th, 2010,

Open letter of the Committee Sportifs angry Deaf persons, in answer to the open letter of Mr Masson, president of the FFH, of February 10th, 2010.

The Disabled French Federation penalizes us!

Sir FFH of President,

Since 2008, the FFH possesses two different sports international committees for the physically handicapped persons and blind persons, and the Deaf persons.

In your open letter of February 10th, 2010, you consider that us, the Deaf Sportsmen, are victims of the suspension, decided by International Commitee of Sports for the Deaf ( ISCD), of any official participation in international matches organized under its responsibility. Suspension also supported by the European Deaf Sport Organization ( EDSO), further to your refusal to rectify the statutes of the FFH so that they are in accordance with the constitution of the ISCD.

Further to this suspension, for which you are responsible, we cannot participate :

- In Deaflympics (summer and winter),

- In world championships,

- In European championships,

- In the international friendly matches.

You propose while the ICSD has to modify its constitution, grounds which it is discriminatory to require that a Deaf person represents the deaf sportsmen

Yourself do not be deaf, and do not know our cultural, linguistic identity in the sport, we wonder, thus, how you were able to act without us and to decide on our place of the continuation to be given to the statements of the ISCD, while knowing that nobody of us was before consulted. We try to clarify here our own interpretation of the situation.

We know that the ICSD looks for an excellent collaboration with an entity which includes and really represents the deaf sports identity: the ICSD wishes to work with a deaf commission elected within the FFH, this committee commission which you have, yourself, dissolved... You had suggested, just before Deaflympics on 2009 of Taipei, revising the Constitution of the ICSD. The international deaf sports representatives voted mainly maintains it the clause: the national representative of the Sportsmen of the Deaf persons of every country has to be Deaf person and elected by the deaf sports clubs. What with what we completely agree. The fact of this decision guarantees the respect for the specific cultural and linguistic identity in the sport, which the United Nations Organization (UNO) recognized and respected.

At the political level, it does not mean that the president of the FFH owes the being, but that it is only enough to create a committee of the deaf sportsmen elected by the representatives of the deaf sports clubs under the supervision of the members of the FFH with real powers and very narrow collaboration with the direction of the FFH. Such as we imagine it, this committee under the supervision of the FFH should consist of deaf representatives and signed hearings, among which the president or the director is necessarily deaf.

The ISCD will grant us then to continue our sporting events, and so to bring up France to the world rank among the other countries. In that case opposite, France will unquestionably be suspended during long years by your simple refusal to take into account the solutions which we propose you, to listen to the arguments and to respect the Constitutions of the ICSD.

You asserted during the interview that you had tuned to WebSourd that you receive our support, and then show your words: support us! Listen to our demands! Do not limit yourselves to any deaf persons of your circle of acquaintances within the FFH: they are overtaken by events, reason for which we did not choose them nor elected.

We are a member of a linguistic minority, so our "handicap" must not be considered as being identical to the physical handicaps of the FFH. It is about a linguistic handicap between the deaf persons and the hearings. The spirit and the condition of the sport and the competition stay the same for all without it is made in Sign language for the majority of us. That is why International Paralympic Committee ( IPC) and ICSD signed an entitled Convention " Separation language and body " in 2004, an convention was recognized by the Committee International Olympic ( CIO ).

Sir President, you have the last luck, the suspension of ICSD is raised temporarily until the month of September 2010:

Us, the Deaf Sportsmen, require that the FFH adds a new clause in its statutes so that the presidents of the deaf sports associations can elect their deaf representative who will chair the commission of the Deaf Sportsmen under the supervision of the FFH, according to the wish of the ICSD and to ours.

Us, the Deaf Sportsmen, require immediately the creation of a standing and official committee consisted of the deaf elected representatives and the deaf president, elected by the representatives of the deaf sports associations according to the wish of the ICSD.

Us, the Deaf Sportsmen, require that you do not lodge a complaint against the ICSD, the requirements of which seem to us justifiable, and whom we can answer by restoring deaf persons' committee within the FFH. You will gain nothing by lodging a complaint against the ICSD.

If you persist in not listening to us and in refusing the arguments of the ICSD, we would be only more isolated and penalized in our citizens' rights, and you would be responsible for it.

David CLOUX, leader of the Committee Angry Deaf Sports

I'll sign the claims of Deaf Sports in France: