Sport

 Ireland GymSTART Racism: Simone Biles Slams Action

By Web News 567

Four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles says “there is no room for racism in any sport” after a video went viral on social media of a black girl not being given a medal at an Irish gymnastics event ceremony.

The incident occurred at a Gymstart event in Dublin in March 2022 when a line of children were awarded medals but the black girl did not receive one.

However a video of the incident has emerged in recent days and been watched millions of times on social media, drawing criticism.

Biles saw a video of the incident and posted

it “broke my heart”.

On Friday, in response to the video, Gymnastics Ireland issued a statement saying they received a complaint alleging racist behaviour in March 2022 from the parents of the girl.

It said there was independent mediation leading to a “resolution agreed by both parties in August 2023”.

As part of Gymnastics Ireland’s investigation into the incident, the official involved “expressed deep regret for what they described as an honest error”.

Gymnastics Ireland said a written apology from the official was issued. It also said the girl did get her medal afterward the ceremony.

However, the Irish Independent on Sunday, quoting the girl’s mother anonymously, said she believes Gymnastics Ireland has failed to publicly apologise and she has taken the matter to the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation in Switzerland.

The Irish Independent also reported that the mother is concerned the family will be a target for racist abuse and wants the video removed by social media companies.

The newspaper reported that the family believed their daughter was ignored at the ceremony because she was black.

“We are often the only black family at gymnastics events and this has been very hurtful for us,” the mother told the newspaper. “Now eight million people have seen the video. From Pakistan to Ethiopia they can see this was wrong but Gymnastics Ireland still can’t accept it and say sorry.”

The Irish Independent also said Biles originally sent a video message to the girl, offering her support last year.

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon

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Foreign Sport

VIDEO: Racism in Ireland as Sports Official Overlooks Black GymSTART Medalist

By Web News 8402

By Olaolu Fawole

A video showing a moment when a female sports official decided to racially discriminate a black girl, who was among medalists at a GymSTART tournament in Ireland has surfaced on social media.

The video which has gone viral on social media apps like Tiktok and X (formerly Twitter) has attracted thousands of comments worldwide.

In the video, the sports official was seen putting medals on the winners and decided to walk past the black girl and hung a medal on the next Gymnast, without giving the black Gymnast her medal.

Findings by Radio Nigeria show that racism has been an issue for immigrants in Ireland.

Meanwhile, Gymnastics Ireland, the body in charge of the tournament, in a reaction to the incident, said the identified sports official has apologised, describing it as ‘an honest error’.

In a statement on their website, https://www.gymnasticsireland.com, the body said the incident happened in March, 2022 and it was settled in August, 2023.

“We are aware of a video that has been posted on social media relating to an incident that took place over 18 months ago at a GymSTART event in March 2022 for which we received a complaint from the parents of one of our members. Subsequently both parties agreed to enter mediation which was independently facilitated by Sports Disputes Solutions Ireland as per our policy/procedure which led to a resolution agreed by both parties in August 2023″.

Radio Nigeria Ibadan gathered that a formal complaint has been lodged at the Police Station on Saturday.

According to the Founder of Laois Africa Support Group, a group of African Migrants in Ireland, Mr Bolaji Adeyanju, the case has been reported to the Police for further investigation.

“Case is now reported to the Garda, apparently they saw the videos too, however case was never reported and if no report they can’t t investigate. All racism must be reported so it can be followed up and added to issues migrants face. They are opening a formal investigation.Thank you everyone and let’s continue to fight racism and educate racists. I will update as I hear anything back”.

Also, despite the statement from Gymnastics Ireland, Netizens have called for prosecution of the female sports official and expressed shock to the approach of Gymnastics Ireland on the matter.

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Foreign

EU Court Rules Against Ireland on Nature Laws

By Web News 344

The European Court of Justice has ruled that the Republic of Ireland broke EU nature laws by failing to protect hundreds of sites.

The long-running case was brought forward by the European Commission in relation to the implementation of the EU Habitats Directive.

The court found that the Irish government had failed to designate Special Areas of Conservation for 217 of 423 sites across the country.

The government also neglected to set “site-specific detailed conservation objectives” at 140 sites.

The court awarded the costs of the case against the Irish government but the issue of fines was not determined.

The Habitats Directive, external aims to protect over a thousand species of animal and fauna and 230 characteristic habitat types.

The overall objective is to ensure that those species and habitats are maintained or restored to a favourable conservation status within the EU.

The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) said the ruling was a “damning finding against Ireland” that comes as no surprise.

The IWT’s campaign officer Pádraic Fogarty said it was not seeing changes where it mattered despite some positive initiatives.

“We have whole sectors whose ecological footprints are out of control, particularly agriculture but also forestry, fishing and peat extraction,” he said.

Irish Heritage Minister Malcolm Noonan said he recognised the importance of the judgement and was examining it with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and in consultation with the attorney general.

“It is important to note that the court’s findings refer to the position in January 2019,” he said.

“This government has made very considerable progress in recent years,” he added.

“I am confident that we will respond to this judgement swiftly with positive and constructive actions in order to bring Ireland into full compliance.”

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BBC/Taiwo Akinola