The reform of sport in San Marino has won a positive assessment from Attiva-Mente for the new provisions introduced in favour of people with disabilities. However, the association is calling for the recognition of rights to translate into concrete opportunities, from access to sporting activities to financial support for purchasing equipment and aids.
The bill will reach its first reading in the next session of the Grand and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale) and provides, among other things, for the transformation of the CONS into the San Marino National Olympic and Paralympic Committee, representation of Paralympic activity on the Executive Committee, and a dedicated article on the right to sport for people with disabilities, with an explicit reference to the UN Convention.
These are developments welcomed by the association, which recalls its nearly two-decade-long commitment to securing recognition for Paralympic sport in the Republic.
“Almost twenty years ago, Attiva-Mente helped found and bring to life the San Marino Paralympic Committee, and since then we have continued to call for sport for people with disabilities to achieve full, stable and structural recognition within the San Marino system,” the statement reads.
Although it was not involved in drafting the reform, Attiva-Mente acknowledges the progress made, but urges attention above all to the effects the new provisions will have on everyday life.
“The real test will not simply be whether the new structures function well or whether the Paralympic movement grows, but whether the system is able to genuinely expand opportunities for participation, moving from a situation that is still too often exclusionary to real and full sporting inclusion.”
The association points to the example of the Rimini area, where information desks have been reactivated to guide people with disabilities towards available sporting disciplines, putting them in touch with clubs and coaches. Forms of financial support are also provided for the purchase of aids and prostheses intended for use in amateur sport as well.
In San Marino, Attiva-Mente notes, a structured service of this kind, open to everyone, is still lacking. This gap can weigh particularly heavily on those who acquire a disability following an accident or illness, but also on children, young people and adults who have never had the chance to approach a sporting discipline.
“If, in order to take up a sport, someone first has to independently discover that the opportunity exists, find out who offers it, work out who to contact, and build the whole pathway on their own, it is inevitable that some people will start out far ahead of others,” the association points out.
Alongside the issue of information, the question of costs remains. Attiva-Mente has recently submitted a new Arengo Petition calling for the creation of a public fund dedicated to sporting aids and adapted equipment, ranging from sports wheelchairs and handbikes to specific prostheses — tools needed to practise sport at competitive, school, recreational and amateur levels.
“The cost of an aid cannot be allowed to stand as the barrier separating a person from an opportunity,” the statement stresses.
For the association, information and financial support must go hand in hand, since knowing about a sporting opportunity is of little use if the means to actually take part are lacking.
Reference is also made to Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which recognises the right to participate in recreational, leisure and sporting activities on an equal basis with others.
“We therefore hope that this new ‘Paralympic’ dimension, now also reflected in the structure of the CONS, does not remain merely an institutional definition, but becomes the starting point for building greater opportunities, accessibility and freedom of choice for everyone,” Attiva-Mente states.
Finally, the association draws attention to those who, due to a lack of information, resources or opportunities, have so far been excluded from sporting activity.
“An inclusive community should not limit itself to applauding those who, despite the obstacles, manage to get there anyway. It should also ask itself about those who never set out at all, and why,” the statement concludes.
