The Spanish National Basketball Team Special Olympics Scandal

 Watch:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMNBXU1rP9M

 On October 24th, 2000, Spain rejoiced as their Paralympic basketball team triumphed against Russia in a thrilling 87 to 63 win. Their team of 12 were each awarded gold medals and flowers and praise, before they sung their national anthem on the world stage. It was part of Spain's most successful Paralympics yet - winning 107 medals and placing third overall, behind Australia and Britain.

But beneath their cheers was a callous lie.

Upon returning home, player Carlos Ribagorda published a story in which he unveiled what would become one of the most infamous cases of cheating in Paralympic history. 

Out of the 12 Spanish basketball players, all of whom had said they have an intellectual disability, only two were telling the truth. The other 10 - of whom Ribagorda was one - had no disability at all.

And it wasn't only in the Spanish basketball team that this had occurred, Ribagorda explained. 

“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,” the undercover Spanish journalist wrote in the exposé for Capital magazine.

Fernando Martin Vicente, chairman of the Spanish Sports Federation for the Intellectually Handicapped, denied the accusations at the time, insisting it “could not possibly happen.” 

Alas, it was all true. 

"I think people saw it as a free trip to Australia. There was even some pride at wearing the Spanish team strip," Ribagorda told The Guardian in 2004.

Ribagorda said he was invited to compete with the basketball team just months prior to the Paralympics, despite being an able-bodied man.  He also shared that he not required to take a test for learning disabilities. In fact, the only test he was asked to do was six push-ups. 

"There were five months of training with not a single disabled person in sight. The two genuinely disabled players came from outside Madrid."

He explained that in their first game at the Sydney Paralympics, the players were told off by their coach at half-time for already being ahead by 30 points. They were explicitly asked to not play so well, to deter any suspicion.  

When the team won Gold and their photos were splashed on the front pages of the newspapers at home, people who knew the players began recognising them, and realised they were people who did not have learning difficulties. 

When arriving home, Ribagorda recalled the entire team being asked to disguise themselves by growing beards and wearing glasses and hats. 

But what officials failed to realise was that an undercover journalist - Ribagorda - was among them the whole time, ready to blow the whistle. And that he did, making him a sports whistleblower. 

Two months after winning gold, the entire team were forced to return their medals. Plus, the International Paralympic Committee decided to temporarily remove all events from the Games for athletes with intellectual disabilities, until they could formulate a way to classify people with an intellectual disability. Yes - those who actually had an intellectual disability became the victims of the fraudulent behaviour of able-bodied people. Thousands were denied the chance to compete at the Paralympics due to the actions of the 2000 Spanish Paralympic basketball team.

It wasn't until the London 2012 games that athletes with intellectual disabilities were permitted to compete again. 

1.Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

1.	rejoiced	a.	an individual who, without authorization, reveals private or classified information about an organization, usually related to wrongdoing or misconduct. They generally state that such actions are motivated by a commitment to the public interest.
2.	triumphed	b.	Fit and healthy; not physically disabled.
3.	thrilling	c.	Achieve a victory; be successful
4.	praise	d.	Showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others.
5.	callous	e.	Express warm approval or admiration.
6.	whistleblower	f.	Causing excitement and pleasure; exhilarating.
7.	able-bodied	g.	Feel or show great joy or delight.

    Paragraph 2

8.	told off	h.	Involving secret work within a community or organization, especially for the purposes of police investigation or journalism
9.	explicitly	i.	In a clear and detailed manner, leaving no room for confusion or doubt.
10.	deter	j.	Remembered.
11.	splashed	k.	Obtained, done by, or involving deception, especially criminal deception.
12.	recalled	l.	To speak angrily to someone because they have done something wrong
13.	fraudulent	m.	Print (a story or photograph, especially a sensational one) in a prominent place in a newspaper or magazine.
14.	undercover	n.	ignore.

 

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2.QUESTIONS: 

A:Carlos Ribagorda was a secret journalist who pretended to be a basketball player in order to write a story about the cheating basketball team. He was an ___________ journalist. 

When his story came out and it caused such a controversy because he exposed the team´s wrongdoing, making him a ______________.

His teammates, who were disappointed to be exposed by him, feel that he ___________ them out.

B:What do you know about these other examples? If you are not familiar with them, take a minute to google one of them and give a summary of what you read.

Edward Snowden

Donnie Brasco (made famous in the movie by the same name starring Johnny Depp and Al Pacino)

Julian Assange

Chealsea Manning 

Linda Tripp 

Frank Serpico (made into a famous movie in the 70s called Serpico starring Al Pacino)

Jeffery Wiggan (made into an acclaimed movie called The Insider, starring Russel Crowe)

Henry Hill (made into a Martin Scorcese film called Goodfellas, starring Ray Liotta and Robert Deniro) 

3. CHEATING: How bad are these examples of cheating? What should happen to the person who cheats? Complete this table.

Cheating...	How Bad?	What Should Happen to the Cheat?
in exams
on a visa application
a business partner
in a sport
on a diet
on a job application

4.Role play: Cheating 

Role  A – Diego Maradona in the 1986 World Cup versus England What do you know about this incident of cheating?

Role  B – Gerard Pique and Shakira What do you know about this incident of cheating?

Role  C – Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski What do you know about this incident of cheating?

Role  D – Lance Armstrong What do you know about this incident of cheating?  Role E- An Example of Cheating not on the List

The List of Different Crimes. Match the crime with its correct definition 1-7, 8-14, 15-21,22-29,30-37,38-44,45-50

CRIME	DEFINITION	CRIMINAL
1.abduction	taking someone away by force, demanding money for their safe return
2.arson	attacking someone physically
3.assassination	setting fire to a building, cars or property on purpose
4.assault	killing a famous person or public figure
5.bigamy	detonating an explosive device with the plan of harming people or property
6.blackmail	marrying someone when you are already married to another person
7.bombing	threatening to reveal someone’s secrets if a lot of money is not paid
8.bribery	behaving violently inside the home
9.burglary	doing something illegal over the Internet or a computer system
10.child abuse	behaving illegally and dishonestly; especially those in power
11.corruption	treating a child badly in a physical, emotional, or sexual way
12.crime	doing something illegal that can be punished by law
13.cybercrime	breaking into a house in order to steal something
14.domestic violence	giving money or granting favors to influence another person’s decisions or behavior
15.drunk driving	driving with too much alcohol in your blood
16.embezzlement	stealing large amounts of money that you are responsible for, often over a period of time
17.espionage	illegally copying documents, money, etc. to cheat people
18.forgery	spying, to obtain political or military information
19.fraud	killing on purpose a large number of people, especially from a particular group or area
20.genocide	getting money from people by cheating them
21.hijacking	taking control of a plane, train etc by force, often to meet political demands
22.hit and run	killing someone without legal process, often by hanging, often by an angry mob
23.homicide	damaging someone’s reputation by writing lies about them
24.hooliganism	being violent or aggressive on purpose; often used to describe youth
25.identity theft	using someone else’s personal information for one’s own gain
26.kidnapping	taking things illegally and by force, during a riot, war, etc.
27.libel	killing another person on purpose
28.looting	taking someone away by force, often demanding money for their safe return
29.lynching	not stopping to help a person hurt in an accident caused by you
30.manslaughter	killing someone by accident
31.mugging	lying in court, while under oath
32.murder	killing someone on purpose
33.perjury	attacking someone with a plan to rob them
34.pickpocketing	hunting illegally
35.pilfering	stealing small quantities of goods over time
36.poaching	hunting illegally
37.rape	forcing someone to have sex
38.riot	causing a noisy, violent public disturbance
39.robbery	stealing large amounts of money with force or violence from a bank, store, etc.
40.shoplifting	stealing something from a store
41.slander	damaging someone’s reputation by speaking lies about them
42.smuggling	taking things secretly in or out of a place, country, jail, etc.
43.speeding	driving above the speed limit
44.terrorism	betraying one’s country by helping its enemies
45.theft	stealing, in general
46.trafficking	trading something illegal like drugs, people, etc.
47.treason	using violence, threats, or fear, usually for political purposes
48.trespassing	entering another person’s area; hurting people/damaging property through force
49.vandalism	destroying private or public property purposely
50.voyeurism	secretly watching naked people or sexual acts & getting sexually excited

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