Former head of the Spanish Federation fined for Paralympics fraud

Former Spanish Federation fined for fraud

Former head of Spanish Federation, Fernando Martin Vicente had been charged of fraud in the the Spanish Paralympics Basketball team, which won the gold medal in Sydney 2000 event. A Spanish court had fined the former boss 5400 euros ($7800).

Fernando Martin Vicente was alleged of fielding athletes with no disabilities at the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney to win medals.

Carlos Ribagorda, a member of the gold medal winning basketball team said: “Of the 200 Spanish athletes at Sydney at least 15 had no type of physical or mental handicap – they didn’t even pass medical or psychological examinations.”

According to Ribargorda, he had played for the Spanish Paralympic basketball team for more than two years but had no mental handicap. The only test he had to complete at the first training session was six press-ups, after which his blood pressure was taken.

Spain had their most successful Paralympics in Sydney. They had won 107 medals to finish third in the medals table after Australia and Britain.

Martin Vicente had resigned from his post by saying: “If someone wants to cheat, it’s difficult to detect. It’s easy to pretend you have little intelligence but the opposite is difficult.”