The Club IODA Tenerife, focusing on adapted sport in Adeje, expresses its concern about the low visibility it receives in the media. Despite the coincidence between the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and a major wheelchair tennis event in the south of Tenerife, unfortunately, media coverage was insufficient to adequately highlight the importance of this initiative.
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was celebrated on Sunday 3 December. On Saturday, just the day before, the finals of the Tenerife Open Fundación DISA, the only international wheelchair tennis tournament in the Canary Islands, were held in La Caleta de Adeje. 31 top athletes took part in the Tenerife Top Training, including several Paralympic athletes. Despite the presence of high performance athletes from 11 different nations and despite great efforts to attract media to this exceptional event, the media presence was scarce, much to the displeasure of the organising IODA Tenerife Sports Club.
“It hurts us a lot that nowadays adapted sport is still far from receiving the media attention it deserves. It is already the second year in a row that we feel ignored by most of the media.” commented tournament director Nicolas Lanquetin.
The Tenerife Open Fundación DISA 2023 featured the participation of Lola Ochoa, the Spanish number one in wheelchair tennis and Enrique Siscar Meseguer, Spain’s number 2 and Paralympic athlete for Tokyo 2020. Ranked No. 2 seed, Meseguer managed to win the title in a thrilling final against the tournament’s No. 1, Frenchman Guilhem Laget.
Lanquetin adds that “[…] The mainstream media is crucial for the development of adapted sport. It is crucial for society to see that a disability does not prevent an active life. Moreover, without visibility in adapted sport events, it is very difficult to obtain the necessary financial resources to cover expenses. People with disabilities are part of our society, so we have the right to be represented in the media as well.”
For further information, please contact:
Nicolas Lanquetin (President of Club IODA Tenerife and tournament director):
Tel: 684132204; lanquetin.nicolas@gmail.com or info@iodatenerife.com
Javier Rodríguez (Press officer):
Tel: 649903888; saty170274@gmail.com