The Indian deaf cricket team, who were invited to play a week of
cricket matches, were not allowed to board the connecting flight from
Bangkok airways to Chiang Mai. The company policy stated the reason was
their disability to hear.
David Buck, the Director for cricket at Prem’s academy, had the shock
of his life when he heard that the Indian deaf cricket players were
left stranded and were not allowed to board the flight to Chiang Mai due
to company policy.
“We had arranged to sponsor the team to play here,” said Buck, who
explained that the deaf cricket federation in India consisted of a very
large pool of cricketers, but only 23 players had been chosen to play in
Chiang Mai.
“I organised the trip, the transport, food, lodging, but they would
find their own flights,” Buck said. The team flew from Delhi to Bangkok
on Jetstar Air; but after they checked in and boarded their late night
Bangkok Airways flight to Chiang Mai, they were in for a shock.
“It was announced that they had to get off the flight. The pilot
refused to take the deaf group because of safety reasons,” Buck
explained, adding, “We were already waiting for them in Chiang Mai
airport with a welcoming committee. It was then we were informed that
they had been asked to get off the flight because of company policy.”
Albeit a different carrier, not more than four people could board the
same flight even if they had manages travel from India without any
problems. This was the policy stated by the Bangkok Airways, who
finally arranged a place to sleep outside the lounge as the lounge was
closed and issued them food and drink.
Finally, the team managed to reach Chiang Mai the next day by four,
though fifteen men boarded a large carrier aircraft on one flight.
The week’s cricket went ahead and Buck explained that “it all went
really well, it was fabulous” and he added the cricket team were all
very humble about what had happened in the airport. The airport
authorities issued an order that each player had to carry his own
passport and also show a proof stating that they were members of the
cricket team, even if they had the India Cricket Federation blazers. No
apology or compensation was offered so far to the team.
“We [Prem] is thinking about hosting the world deaf cricket
championships here in Chiang Mai, but we will have to think about
getting eight nations here for that,” Buck explained.
Source : SportsKeeda Via Phuket news , 6th May 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment