“The federation cannot accept that every time there is an international competition, they run to the minister of sports and ask for tickets to go.”

 “At the end of February, the ministry cut all transport costs, so Noémi is not the only one who has no transport.”

Meeting Véronique Marisson in person was a disconcerting experience. Far from the image I had in mind of a bully walking all over a poor disabled girl and putting an end to her chances of going ahead with the only activity which allowed her to cope with life. As it happens, Véronique herself is a disabled athlete who has been suffering from cerebral palsy since birth. She is however mentally strong, opinionated and determined to put her side of the story across.

We learnt right from the start that there is a real malaise between the Physically Handicapped Persons Sports Federation(PHYSFED) and one of the four clubs they work with, Magic. It was clear that the relationship between Véronique and the owners of the club was not a happy one. That seems to be a leitmotif in the story surrounding Noémi Alphonse. So what exactly happened in this girl’s case?

For the preparation of the Indian Ocean Island Games(IOIG) 2015, Véronique tells us, the federation shortlisted two female and two male participants for the 1,500m and the Grand Prix Italy in June: Noémi Alphonse and 16-year-old Brandy Perrine, who suffers from a heavy lower limb disability and uses a wheelchair on a daily basis. Noémi’s club was not happy about this and wanted Anaïs Angelineto participate in the Grand Prix, not in the 1,500m wheelchair but in the 100m and discus throw.  They thus went to see the minister of sports and he agreed to their request and gave her a ticket.  Members of the federation thought that this interference was not fair because there were two other pre-selected athletes for the 1,500m race, who could not participate in the Grand Prix because of the limited budget. After some discussion, the minister agreed to pay for the two athletes too. 

After the cash price ceremony was held on 11 February, Noémi approached the minister and then me. As the minister refused to meet members of the club, she was not happy at all and said to me “merci d’etre une couyonne” (Thank you for being such a jerk) and repeated the word “couyonne’ several times in an aggressive tone of voice and a shocking body language.  The athletes and members of the federation present were all shocked.  After a meeting of the federation about a week later, it was decided that there should be sanctions against the athlete.  Taking into account that the athlete was young (having been in the federation for only one year, and participated in two national events and one international event), the federation wanted to be fair in the sanction, so they contacted the Ombudsman for Sports and we are waiting for his advice before holding a disciplinary committee.

Noémi is upset because she says that she had been writing to you and you’ve been ignoring her mails. So you can understand the frustration, can’t you?

I can understand the frustration but I must say that concerning the games in Dubai, (Ed- 8th Fazza International Athletics Competition on 17-20 March) there was no letter from her. The only mail I have received is for the Italy competition; it was a threatening letter from Mrs. Hewlett Nelson, the administrative secretary of the Mauritius Paralympics Committee telling us that they had sent the name of Anaïs Angeline to the ministry and that her parents would pay for her. The week before the team left, an officer phoned me to tell me that the ministry would pay for Anaïs’s ticket. I asked the officer why and he answered that her parents, members of the club, had asked the minister and he agreed.

Why did you object to that?

I did not object to that. I only said one thing. If she goes, there were two pre-selected athletes who should also go. I only wanted to “fight” for the rights of the other two athletes because even if Anaïs is good in her event, these two guys had been training for two years in order to be in the pre-selection. I thought that it was only fair that they also have the opportunity to go. When I mentioned all these facts to the minister, he agreed. So all of them went to Italy, including Anaïs and Noémi. (Laughing) We were the biggest delegation among the disabled of Mauritius.

So what is the problem with Noémi, then?

I think that the problem is not with Noémi or with Anaïs. The problem is with Mrs. Nelson and her family. The federation cannot accept that every time there is an international competition, they run to the minister of sports and ask for tickets to go.

The reason they go to the minister, we are given to understand, is that they feel the federation is not fair.

No. No. They cannot say that the federation is not fair. If the federation was not fair, we would not have given names of Magic Club athletes to go to Italy, Glasgow and Dubai. We only have a budget of Rs350,000 to manage with.

It is how you distribute that money that shows whether you are fair or not.

We choose the most competent people so we are fair to everyone!

Why do the other athletes object every time?

It is not the other athletes who object. It is always the same athletes from the same club who object.

Why are you making this sound like a war between the federation and the Magic Club? We are talking about athletes, not about clubs.

I personally don’t think that it is a war. What I am trying to tell you is that the problem is not the athletes. Even when Noémi talked to me, the way that she was talking and the things that she was saying, for me, did not come from her. More than 50% of what she says does not come from her. So, it is not a war with the athletes from Magic Club. Our priority is the performance of the athletes. Unfortunately, we have to consider the event too and priority should be given to athletes who are in the games because we don’t have enough funds for everyone. So, I’m saying it again, it is not a war.

Forget about the club. Here’s a little disabled girl with one leg and part of one hand missing being deprived of participating in the games. How is that fair?

She called me couyonne four times. I asked her again, ‘what did you say’? She repeated, ‘you are a couyonne!’ All the other disabled athletes were shocked.

But she is disabled!

Let me ask you this: if she hadn’t been disabled, would you have felt the same way?

Probably not!

So there. At the federation, we don’t push forward our disability. Besides, the suspension is temporary. It is not unlimited. Unfortunately, it came just before the games in Dubai.

Even if you had to discipline her, why cancel her transport?

That has nothing to do with the suspension. At the end of February, the ministry cut all transport costs, so Noémi is not the only one who has no transport.

How are these athletes supposed to move about to do their training?

I think you should put this question to the ministry.

But you should fight for your athletes.

Dear madam, I have been fighting so much that I can no longer fight. Only the high level gold medallists of the IOIG in 2015 are now entitled to have transport. Even the silver medallists of the games do not have transport.

Isn't it unfair?

Yes, it is unfair. We have to draw more courage to fight.

Is this the first time that this has happened?

Yes. This radical cut is the first time.

We hear allegations of favouritism from all over the place, not from one person or one club.

Not from clubs but from people. I’ve been receiving messages on Facebook. The last message I received yesterday said that I keep air tickets for myself and my family to go to Rio. I challenge anyone to come and prove to me that I have used a single ticket to go anywhere, let alone take my family along. I have been president of the federation since 2012. I did not even go to Les Jeux des Iles! (IOIG).I challenge anyone to come and say that I’m taking money from the public to go to games with my family. I prefer that other athletes go. I was a bronze medallist for the 2003 games. I raised the Mauritian flag high but I never pushed my disability forward. I am disabled, it is a fact. I cannot change that but it’s not for the valid to pity us or to make room for us. Our disability does not entitle us to have everything.

What will happen to Noemi now?

We are still waiting for the ombudsperson to advise us. The case is too hot for us to deal with it alone. This is why we asked the ombudsperson to give us his point of view.

What do you wish to happen?

I wish that Noemi’s representatives present their apology to the federation.

And to the minister?

I was not present when the incident happened with the minister so I do not want to get involved in that.

What did she say to the minister according to what was reported to you?

She first asked for Anaïs to be part of the delegation and when he replied that it was not for him to decide and she should contact the federation, she told him, 'what is the use of you being a minister? You are a minister on paper only.' This is why I was sad for her.

What if you do not receive an apology? Would you consider turning the page?

Is that a solution? What if something like this had happened to you? Would you just turn the page? What message are you sending to people? I refuse to send the message that you can get away with things just because you are disabled!

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