Disenchanted by lack of support, Jordan Paralympians prepare for upcoming games

AMMAN — Athletes with disabilities are not given the same financial and moral support in the Kingdom as other athletes, according to a top official at the National Paralympic Committee.

Athletes without disabilities receive more community support through sponsorships from big companies, even when Paralympians achieve more notable accomplishments, Secretary General of the National Paralympic Committee, Maha Barghouti said recently.

“Equipment is expensive. Sports shoes can cost up to JD500,” she said, stressing that “the Paralympic Games are on the same level as the Olympics, if not harder.”

Barghouti, who won a gold medal at the 2000 Paralympic Games, stressed that Paralympians “compete with themselves” before they compete with others.

“Our National Paralympic Committee trains athletes with visual, intellectual and physical disabiliteis. They have an impressive record of achievements that is not given proper coverage by the media,” the committee’s athletic activity director and coach Jaser Nuwerian said.

Society has become more aware in recent years, but they still lack common knowledge of the committee’s existence and do not provide support for it or the players, Nuwerian noted.

“A professional wheelchair runner needs a professional wheelchair that costs minimum JD5,000. Imagine if we want to equip a whole team of different players and runners with different degrees of disabilities,” the secretary general said.

“Due to little media coverage, people know that athletes with disabilities exist,” national goalball team player Yazan Mashharawi said. However, athletes with disabilities are continuing to prove and achieve even without the financial and moral support afforded to others, Mashharawi added. 

Held under the patronage of HRH Prince Feisal, the 2nd West Asian Para Games will be hosted in Jordan this September. Athletes from the Gulf and the Levant will be participating in the games which are expected to host some 371 players, 111 of whom are Jordanian.

Headed by HRH Prince Zeid, the Jordanian National Paralympic Committee has won 14 medals since its establishment in 1981.