By Joe Robinson

Amputee footballer, Martin Heald

A FYLDE footballer’s dreams of World Cup glory lie in tatters today after a “disgusting” snub by English soccer chiefs.

Amputee Martin Heald,17, has been left devastated after the FA ruled it will not pay the cash needed to fly the national team to the finals in Brazil.

The star striker, who lost his left leg to cancer two years ago, was
last month selected for the Great Britain team to take part in the Amputee World Cup in Brazil in September.

But despite shelling out hundreds of thousands of pounds to look after every whim and fancy of their multi-millionaire able-bodied stars, Football Association chiefs have ruled they will not pay the £17,000 needed to fly the amputee team to South America.

Officials say the FA has directed “impairment” sports funding
towards those which feature in the Paralympics.

Amputee football is not included.

Martin and his team-mates must now raise the cash themselves if they are to have any chance of heading to Brazil and hearing the
national anthem.

The devastated Wesham teenager, a Year 11 pupil at Kirkham’s Carr Hill High School, told The Gazette: “I find it really disappointing.

“The FA have been rubbish and they’ve been trying to bin us for quite a while.

“About two years ago I had my leg amputated due to cancer, but I got into this through a magazine article.

“It’s been great and this is just so disappointing.”

Martin’s mum and biggest fan Selina added: “It’s so wrong.

“The fully fit team get everything they could possibly need and these lads are not asking for the world.

“It’s given Martin a real purpose in life and he’s a tremendous player.”

At the 2006 World Cup in Germany – England’s last big tournament – manager Sven Goran Eriksson’s team travelled on a private flight.

Once there the team travelled in a luxury £400,000 bus with 40 leather seats, four DVD screens and PlayStations for all.

Their bus also had a toilet, a microwave-equipped kitchen, a red carpet up the aisle and tinted double-glazed windows.

Once there, the luxury complex they stayed in contained a spa and sauna, had a Michelin starred chef and hundreds of thousands of pounds of art adorned the walls.

If they can scrape together enough money for their flights, the amputee team will be provided with standards digs by their hosts, pay for their own meals and are already begging friends, family and local businesses for help.

As an “elite” sport, the national amputee team is not eligible for lottery funding.

The GB head coach Dave Tweed said his squad and staff were gutted by the snub from the FA.

“The FA have been supporting amputee football since 2001, but they’ve never really given a full commitment.

“We’ve had to fund two trips to the Euro championships ourselves – in 2006 when we came second in Volgograd, Russia and in 2008 in Turkey when we came third.

“Now they have completely withdrawn their support.”

Steve Johnson, chairman of the Amputee Football Association, who sits on the FA Disability, Equality and Advisory Group and was present when the funding decision was announced, said he was disgusted.

“They have carried out a review of all the impairment squads,” he said, “and they’ve withdrawn funding for the amputee team and the learning disability team.

“They’ve put this funding towards cerebral palsy and blind teams
because they are paralymic sports.

“You have to ask is there equality?

“I sometimes wonder and, to be honest, I’m disgusted.”

Martin, who needs to raise £1,500, has just been sponsored £500 by the Richard J Wilson Sports Foundation – a charity which provides money
for sports organisations near Wrea Green.

But much more is needed if the 12-strong Great Britain amputee squad is not going to be left stuck at home.

Fylde MP Michael Jack invited sportsmen in need of help to take up their case with him and said the aut-horities should encourage participation in as many sports as possible.

In the 2007 calendar year, the FA turned over £237m.

Their TV deal with ITV and Set-anta now pays them £425m over four years. They are also hauling in £145m for overseas television rights.

The Premier League, the body res-ponsible for the top flight of professional football, has agreed a TV deal worth almost £1.8bn for the years 2010-2013.

Officials at the FA’s headquarters at Soho Square, London, were unavailable for comment when asked by The Gazette about its funding policy for amputee football.

Seven teams are so far confirmed as entrants into the Amputee World Cup.

Among them are football giants Argentina and Brazil as well as Russia, Ghana, Turkey, El Salvador and Sierra Leone.

The full article contains 798 words

Page 1 of 1

• Last Updated: 16 May 2009 7:18 AM
• Source: http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Funding-veto-ends-amputee39s-dreams.5273384.jp
• Location: Blackpool

(Our thanks to Steve McNeice for sending all 3 articles)

- o – O – o -

Amputee footballers defy FA snub

By Matthew Squires

Mickey Chambers - determined to defy the veto

Amputee footballers from Lancashire whose World Cup dreams were snubbed by the Football Association insist they will raise the cash to compete themselves.

Penwortham-based Michael Chambers, 19, 17-year-old Wesham striker Martin Heald and their Great Britain teammates have launched a fund-raising drive to make sure they get the £17,000 to fly out for the amputee World Cup in Brazil in September.

Despite shelling out hundreds of thousands of pounds for England’s national team, the FA, which turned over £237m in 2007, has refused to fund their trip.

It says funding for “impairment” sports is being directed towards those which feature in the Paralympics – and amputee football doesn’t.

Michael, a former All Hallows High School pupil, of Gaskell Road, Penwortham, lost his lower leg when he was just three because of a condition called talapies.

He said: “It is very wrong what the FA have done. It is not the first time they have done it. For some reason though, when we go by ourselves we seem to do a lot better.

“When we were with the FA in Turkey a few years ago we got knocked out of the quarter finals.

“Then we went to Russia when they had pulled the funding and got to the final.”

Martin, of Belgrave Avenue, Wesham, near Preston, lost his left leg to cancer two years ago.

The Kirkham Carr Lane High School pupil said: “We will still be going; we will raise the money.

“There are 15 of us going, we need £17,000 altogether. I have got friends and family to sponsor me and I have got £500 from a company in Wrea Green.”

The team is hoping to compete in a sponsored run around Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium in July and has been invited by the Premier League to apply for a grant from its international development fund.

On the FA snub, Great Britain coach Dave Tweed said: “It is massively disappointing.

“We have never asked for much, all we ask for is what the FA is supposed to give us, or what they give all the other teams, which is four training weekends a year and support for all the competitions.

“It is just annoying more than anything but we have got to be confident that we will do it. ”

Argentina, Russia, Brazil, Turkey, El Salvador and Sierra Leone have registered to take part in the tournament, which runs from September 5-20 in the city of Nova Friburgo, Brazil.

An FA spokesman said: “The FA are recognised as worldwide leaders in providing disability football opportunities and are still 100 per cent behind the amputee squad.

“With just 15 players in the Amputee squad, The FA’s Disability Equality Advisory Group have decided to redirect funding to the English Amputee FA who will assist in generating new players for the team through a series of regional talent days across the country.

“The Amputee Football World Cup in Brazil is not an official tournament and is not recognised by the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sport board who are affiliated to the International Paralympic Committee.”

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Amputee-footballers-defy-FA-snub.5280692.jp

- o – O – o -