Our 600 days update on the leadership of ICSD

Seven weeks ago we met ICSD President when he came to the UK to speak at the Sport Accord gathering in Birmingham. He asked why Two Big Ears had stopped reporting and we replied that we had been happy with the progress that ICSD is making and so had nothing to say.

President Kosa explained how much he has enjoyed reading the balanced and evidence-based reports that we have put out there and has encouraged us to continue keeping ICSD under the microscope and holding them to account.

So, we are back.

Our first report on the new leadership of ICSD, President Adam Kosa and Vice President Yutaka Osugi went out to you all about 600 days ago (August 2022).

Back then, we were wondering what the new leadership was going to do about some important matters. We put some of these questions to Kosa and this is what we have learnt

Relationships with the IPC and Paralympics

The ICSD have opened up a dialogue with the IPC, to maintain the Mutual respect and support for each others status within the Olympic family under the IOC.

The intention is to strengthen the partnership under the Memorandum of Understanding that has been around now for some time.

Many people will be pleased to see this happening because not so long ago, there were grave concerns about Rukhledev’s arrogance and isolationism which was damaging to international relations.

Commissions

Since we last reported about 600 days ago, the commissions have been active under the guidance of the ICSD Executive Committee.

Recently this year: Athletes and the Women’s commissions have met. Anti-doping has been prominent with a workshop at the Taekwondo world championships and education postings on social media.

Further protections of rights under the ICSD include a statement on racism and how this will be dealt with.

Two Big Ears and UK Deaf Sport discussed the challenges that Great Britain has in trying to get government recognition and funding for GB Deaflympians on a par with GB Paralympians.

President Kosa offered to share important documents in support of the campaign and these arrived in good time at the UK Deaf Sports offices soon after Kosa returned home.

Events

We have seen a full calendar of events happening including the long-awaited Young games that took place in Sao Paulo Brazil. Kosa was proud to remind us that there has been no event cancellations of World Championships so far.

Indeed whilst we were at Sport Acord, we were delighted to have President Kosa’s support as we held discussions with major decision makers on hosting international Deaf sports events in the UK in the future.

2025 Deaflympics

Preparations are ongoing and well underway for Tokyo and we spoke to member of staff of the organising committee who came to Sport Accord to promote the event to the world family if International Federations and major sponsors.

Kosa is determined that the old habits of short-term decision making when bidding and planning for future Summer and Winter games will be dealt with and some significant changes are already being made.

Countries must now make all payments in full three months before the Deaflympics take place, to ensure good cashflow and safeguarding of the infrastructures in place and the commitment of the host cities.

We also learnt from Kosa that there will be a tightening up of qualifications for athletes to compete at the Deaflympics, moving closer to ‘performance’ rather than participation. It will be interesting to see what impact this has on some sports in the future.

Indeed, Kosa wants ICSD to move with the times and if that means some sports no longer on the Deaflympic programme and replaced with more popular sports amongst young people, then this will happen. The ICSD has an open-mind on this and e-sports was part of our discussions.

Russia and Belarus

ICSD continue to adhere to the IOC guidance on participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus. We asked Kosa how ICSD plans to police the conditions that have been brought in to ensure neutrality.

One of the conditions is that Russian athletes state that they do not support the invasion of Ukraine, such a statement would be penalised by the state in Russia, so this will reduce the numbers taking part.

Indeed we spoke about the amazing results of the Ukraine athletes especially since the current phase of the war broke out and we discussed the fact that Ukraine is making the most of the opportunities to win, because at some point in the distant future, when Russia is allowed back in, they will dominate again.

We asked about the staffing situation and the general concerns about the operational standards. It was pointed out to us that the ICSD Executive is somewhat uncomfortable with the way the Summer Deaflympics left the host city in debt.

The most recent news that the ICSD is exploring options of relocating it’s HQ away from Lausanne suggests that changes are underway to disconnect the organisation from the previous management experiences.

Coming Up Next

Our next post will discuss the recent overhaul of the ICSD Constitution that took place at the recent Extraordinary Congress on the 10th March in Türkiye and what this means for deaf sports and the members of ICSD.