UK Deaf Sport launch Fair Play for Deaf Athletes campaign (BSL)

A new campaign called Fair Play for Deaf Athletes is being launched today by UK Deaf Sport, aiming to end the exclusion of deaf athletes from UK Sport funding, which is currently only given to Olympic or Paralympic athletes.

The campaign calls for the government to end discrimination against deaf athletes and fund them to compete in the Deaflympics, which is next being held in Tokyo in 2025.

Currently, deafness is the only disability that the Government do not fund at elite sports level, with deaf athletes only competing in the Paralympics if they have another eligible disability.

A video posted to X (formerly Twitter) from deaf rugby star Jodie Ounsley can be seen below:

Any support with this campaign would mean the world💙 https://t.co/lLP03QBWZf#FundDeaflympicsGB#FairPlayForDeafAthletes#Enddeafsportdiscrimination pic.twitter.com/JdY290XGq3

— Jodie Ounsley (@_jodieounsley) November 15, 2023

While £612 million is allocated over four years to fund Olympic and Paralympic athletes, nothing at all is given to deaf athletes who compete in the Deaflympics or other competitions.

The Deaflympics is 100 years old next year, and is recognised by the International Olympic Committee on the same footing as the Olympics and Paralympics.

UK Deaf Sport is calling for the government to commit £3m over the next four years, which is just 0.5% of the current UK Sport budget, to create deaf athlete talent and performance pathways that mirror their Olympic and Paralympic peers in time for Tokyo 2025.

UK Deaf Sport also argues that this will encourage more deaf people to participate in sports and provide inspiring role models.

The charity point out that one in five adults are deaf and recent research has found that the deaf community are one of the most inactive groups with 53% of deaf adults being inactive.

Piers Martin, Chair of UK Deaf Sport said: “It is not well-known that the Deaflympics is a separate event to the Paralympics, but that is simply not a valid excuse for the Government to continue to exclude elite deaf athletes, and modern society no longer accepts discrimination at this level.”

Joanne Cholerton, Chief Executive of UK Deaf Sport added: ‘Deafness is the only disability Government do not support at the elite sport level. Being deaf should not be a barrier to reaching your potential in sport and we think this is profoundly unfair. That’s why we’re calling on the Government to readdress this funding anomaly and discrimination.”

Jodie Ounsley, Honorary President of UK Deaf Sport and Winger for Exeter Chiefs rugby team said: “Growing up, I missed not having deaf athletes to look up to. We’ve launched this campaign to ensure every deaf person can fulfil their full potential in sport and activity and give the next generation of deaf children inspiring role models.”

Adam Blaze, Chief Executive, Activity Alliance said “Activity Alliance supports UK Deaf Sport in their campaign to change an unfair system for D/deaf people. A commitment to funding talented D/deaf athletes and a DeaflympicsGB Team would be a hugely positive step in making sport and physical activity faire across our country.”

More details on how to support the campaign and end discrimination for deaf athletes can be found here.