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jack-o-licious t1_jaoecf6 wrote

> "In Ghana we need to set our priorities straight," Philip Plange, assistant head coach and deputy secretary for the Ghana Accra Tennis Association, told ESPN.

That can be interpreted in completely different ways.

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guano_guapo t1_jaopai2 wrote

Came here for a synopsis of the article, but since everyone here before me wanted to be assholes, here’s my best go:

The Ghanaian national wheelchair tennis team was confronted by a group of gunmen while traveling at night by bus from Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to the team’s lodgings in Lagos. The team was unable to afford a hotel in Abuja and was forced to hire a local Nigerian driver as they were not provided enough funding to cover travel expenses. Thankfully, it was this quick thinking driver who saved the team from a possible worse outcome by driving them away from the danger.

Three players were injured in the ordeal, none of them with life-threatening injuries. The team is upset with their own government, who has failed to even provide them with counseling after such a traumatic experience.

"They would never treat our national football team -- the Black Stars -- like this," said assistant head coach Phillip Plange.

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kompootor t1_jap34vr wrote

Replying to guano_guapo (#2,147,834)

>"They would never treat our national football team -- the Black Stars -- like this,"

If that's true, it puts that team in decent shape historically -- at least in the context of older tragedies. (Btw we all know that Paralympic national teams get crap treatment compared to Olympic and able-bodied-event national teams, and further that national teams of little-watched Olympic sports get little to no support compared to those of popular sports, and both get minuscule support compared to those of professional sports.) I don't know football history at all, but I do remember a documentary on hooliganism covering the Heysel disaster and had footage of Liverpool's bus under attack. It didn't seem like any of the clubs got any sympathy. A more recent bus attack worth comparing, however, was the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team. Pakistan pulled out the stops to save what little face they could; the only details I got about the aftermath in Sri Lanka is that they all spent time in hospital immediately after, but I didn't see if that meant counseling (though I'd presume so for those who weren't physically injured).

I'm not sure about a small or unpopular team getting attacked like this to compare this to, to give the quote some context, but I'm sure there must be examples of college clubs in the U.S. getting robbed in international competition or something. I know in colleges that unless you were an official varsity sport or had an endowment from a board member, a sports club could expect zero support from the school for anything beyond the fundamentals. After all there's a finite amount of money and admin staff -- maybe that's an appropriate comparison?

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v4m t1_jap4ux9 wrote

What is with the unfunny tone deaf comments?

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novemberjenny11 t1_jaq8l5s wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,149,900)

The title is worded horribly. I read it as, they’re taking the opinions of the wheelchair tennis team after a gunman attacked something in Nigeria, not after a gunman attacked them. I’m like that’s nice that they did, but why did they just randomly poll the Nigerian wheelchair tennis team about a shooting? 😂

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HowerTwo t1_jaqygax wrote

They’ll receive a standing ovation for bringing light on this issue

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braveoldfart777 t1_jar6is5 wrote

So the best opportunity for criminals is to attack a busload of disabled tennis players. A new low for humanity.

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