‘Grotesque spectacle’? Rio has a long way to go to become more accessible

It was quite a reality check. With one phrase, “Espetáculo grotesco” (“grotesque spectacle”), Portuguese journalist Joaquim Vieira created a major controversy with his denigration of the Paralympic Games. Through his choice of words, and his throwback to disability as a “freak show”, he highlights the difficulty of moving the discourse and practice from a medical model to a social approach. The former sees people with disabilities as abnormal, deviant or inferior, with disability a “personal tragedy”. A social approach focuses on the abilities rather than deficits, challenging the disabling environments, attitudes and behaviours of individuals, organisations and societies

Aboriginal Football in Australia: Race Relations and the Socio-historical Meanings of the 2014 Borroloola Tour to the Brazil World Cup

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This paper tells the history of the Borroloola Tour to the 2014 Brazil World Cup, when eight Aboriginal adolescent footballers from the remote town of Borroloola in Australia’s Northern Territory were selected to be part of a tour to Brazil. In Brazil they followed the Australian team from the stands, socialized with football idols such as Tim Cahill, and visited a Brazilian Indigenous tribe. John Moriarty, the first Aboriginal Australian to be selected to Australia’s national football team executed this excursion. Considering that race relations within the Australian sporting arena have historically, been tense and contested, this paper brings to light an under-explored aspect of football in Australia. It is timely too, given the insertion of Australian football within the Asian Football Confederation. The paper examines the historical meanings of the Borroloola Tour through the lens of its key participants; as well as by unveiling John Moriarty’s history as the first Aboriginal person to be selected to play for the Socceroos. In conclusion, it reveals that both the past and contemporary history of Aboriginal people’s involvement in Australian football has an emerging face that will shape football in Australia and in Asia in the coming years

Developing LGBT+ Inclusive Supporter Groups in the Big Bash League

Sport is an integral part of both Australian culture and identity. However, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities (LGBT+) face extra barriers and challenges to engagement and participation in sport. This study, formed through a partnership between Western Sydney University and Cricket Victoria, aimed to better understand how LGBT+ supporter/ coterie groups could be initiated and supported in the Big Bash League. Twenty-Four key stakeholders and informants drawn from Australian Football League (AFL) LGBT+ supporter groups, AFL administrators, cricket administrators, and LGBT+ cricket fans were interviewed to collect comprehensive data on the requirements for successful LGBT+ supporter group formation in cricket and the Big Bash League. Our results reveal a strong desire to include more LGBT+ communities in cricket, with the Big Bash League identified as an ideal opportunity due to its family-oriented nature. However, it was felt by participants that there was a lack of understanding and education of LGBT+-related issues within the cricket community. The experiences of those involved in AFL support groups have been overwhelmingly positive and provide a compelling case for the introduction of LGBT+ supporter groups in cricket, from both a social inclusion and financial management perspective. We conclude that the introduction of LGBT+ supporter groups in cricket has the potential to impact positively the lives of LGBT+ communities, providing a platform for them to engage with sport in a meaningful and positive way. Three key messages were identified for those wishing to set up LGBT+ supporter groups: 1. Groups should be developed from the bottom up, being driven by LGBT+ fans and members rather than purely from the organisation. A partnership approach between Cricket Victoria/Big Bash League clubs and local LGBT+ communities also provides an avenue to facilitate training and education on LGBT+-related issues for staff and players. 2. Institutional support is crucial for such an initiative to succeed; 3. Clear policies are needed to support supporter groups and to address any negative responses. This policy should also address behaviour by players and staff to ensure that the institutional commitment to inclusion is not undermined

Integration between Women’s and Men’s Football Clubs: A Comparison between Brazil, China and Italy

Despite an increasing interest from media and fans, one of the challenges women’s football currently faces is the lack of resources to sustain its growth at both grassroots and elite levels. To cope with this issue, National Associations (NAs) of various countries have recently formulated a policy demanding men’s football clubs to integrate a women’s team within their structure. Using the Multiple Streams Framework (Kingdon, 1984), this article examines the context, timing and conditions leading to the implementation of the policy of integration in three different countries: Brazil, China and Italy. The authors collected and analysed policy documents and media reports to identify factors influencing the policy formulation. Results indicate declining performances of senior women’s national team, low participation rates, external pressures from supranational football institutions and increased societal need to reduce gender disparities contribute to influence NAs’ engagement with policies for the development of women’s football. While potentially helping women’s football enhance its visibility and commercialisation, the policy of integration risks the women’s game continuing to be seen as subaltern to its men’s counterpart. Implications of the policy of integration for the long-term development of women’s football and its possible future scenarios are discussed

Neurodevelopmental risk factors in schizophrenia

The authors review environmental and neurodevelopmental risk factors for schizophrenic disorders, with emphasis on minor physical anomalies, particularly craniofacial anomalies and dermatoglyphic variations. The high prevalence of these anomalies among schizophrenic subjects supports the neurodevelopmental theory of the etiology of schizophrenia, since they suggest either genetically or epigenetically controlled faulty embryonic development of structures of ectodermal origin like brain and skin. This may disturb neurodevelopment that in turn may cause these subjects to be at increased risk for the development of schizophrenia and related disorders. The precise confirmation of this theory, at least in some cases, will provide further understanding of these illnesses, allowing easy and inexpensive identification of subjects at risk and providing guidelines for the development of new pharmacological interventions for early treatment and even for primary prevention of the illness