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Thursday 25 March was a glorious highveld autumn day. Cotton wool clouds chased rays of sunshine across celestial race-tracks and the South Africa Disability Alliance (SADA) chased down meaningful answers from SAFA and the 2010 local organising committee (LOC).

The Memorandum of Understanding originally signed between SADA (Mr Musi Nkosi) and the LOC promised engagement on all issues regarding accessibility and accessible transport but, sadly, it was merely empty words on empty paper. Rolling Inspiration secured an interview with the LOC’s Chief Communication Officer, Mr Rich Mkhondo, just days before the protest march and tried every journalistic trick in the book to get a straight answer out of him:- to no avail. He ducked, dived and dodged all issues pertaining to the organisation of the event and, when we waded in to the questions of wheelchair tickets, stadium safety procedures and stadium and transport accessibility he breathed a sigh of relief and told us that these were the responsibility of the hosting cities.

Does that make it true? According to page 114 and 115 of FIFA’s document (football_ stadiums_technical_recommendations_and_requirements_ en_8211.pdf- available on the FIFA web site) the LOC should ensure certain minimum requirements. As Urs Linsi, FIFA General Secretary, states on page 9 of the document: “This book provides a blueprint for the football stadium of the twenty-first century. ... Throughout the book, one message should ring loud and clear: no aspect of the football stadium experience can ever take precedence over the safety of those using the facility.”

In our previous issue we reported on the number of seats available for wheelchairs at each stadium. It has subsequently been revealed that the figures supplied were doubled up as the auditor erroneously included the tickets of the care givers in his numbers. This means that, for example, at the Loftus Stadium in Pretoria, where FIFA stipulates a minimum number of 250 seats for wheelchairs (0.5% of the total number of seating) there are only 12 wheelchair seats per game. No wonder you couldn’t buy any tickets!!! SAFA’s spin doctor, Mr Rich Mkhondo, says that they based the seating on past attendances at South African soccer games and so adjusted the seat numbers accordingly. How on earth can you base wheelchair tickets on previous attendance figures when there has NEVER been accessible transport nor accessible stadia? And what about the soccer fans from overseas? Where do they factor into the equation? We left the interview with an empty answers page and very little hope in our hearts.

SADA tried a stronger tactic, massed protest. Ari Seirlis sent out a statement a few days before and rallied the troops. Despite the lack of accessible transport to the venue, by 10h30 there was a willing and milling mob eager to air their grievances and show the LOC just how neglected they feel.

On page 114 of the FIFA document it stipulates: “The viewing platform for spectators who use wheelchairs should not be in a position where the occupants’ view of the playing field could be obstructed by other spectators jumping to their feet or by flags or banners hanging in front of them.” Mr Danny Jordaan raised this issue in his engagement with the SADA protesters and totally ignored the FIFA stipulations saying that, when spectators jump to their feet and obstruct the view of the wheelchair spectators, marshals will ask them to sit down!! A direct and blatant disregard of the FIFA requirements.

On page 115 it states: “A specialist accessibility consultant should be consulted to determine the designs of the stadium to ensure that they comply with internationally accepted standards.” SADA recommended a specialist accessibility consultant to the LOC some time ago and, when the LOC failed to employ the services of said specialist accessibility consultant, SADA paid the bill and provided the specialist free of charge! Despite that, the stadia do not comply with internationally accepted standards and when this issue was raised at the protest march Mr Danny Jordaan berated SADA for airing the issue in public and insisted that the issue be raised in private at a meeting scheduled for 31 March between SADA and SAFA.

Whereas we cannot ensure you a ticket to the soccer, and we cannot ensure that, if you have a ticket, the experience shall be accessible, or even advise you fully on accessible transport, we can assure you that Ari Seirlis, and SADA, are doing everything possible to ensure an accessible and enjoyable soccer experience. Hopefully we shall be able to provide more positive feedback in our next issue of Rolling Inspiration!