Gymnastics Ireland responds to racism allegations arising from viral video

Gymnastics Ireland has responded to allegations of racism arising from a video of a medal-giving ceremony which went viral this weekend. 

The video of the ceremony - which is reportedly from March 2022 - shows a line of children being handed medals by an unknown official. 

One of the children, who is Black, appears to be skipped over while the others receive their medals. 

The family of the girl reportedly complained about the incident, leading to mediation independently facilitated by Sports Disputes Solutions Ireland as per Gymnastics Ireland (GI) policy. 

According to GI, a resolution was agreed by both parties last month. 

However, according to the Irish Independent, who spoke to the girl's mother directly, a resolution was not agreed. 

She reportedly said GI had failed to publicly apologise for what happened and believed the organisation was "covering" for the official. 

Welcome to Ireland where people get away with racism! This little black girl broke my heart. Don’t skip this post without leaving a million heart for her. Make her famous… pic.twitter.com/YYMIP1IALZ

— Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) September 22, 2023

In their statement, GI explained: "The complaint alleged racist behaviour by one of our officials at the event. On receipt of the email, as per our policy and standard practice in relation to complaints, we investigated the matter. Gymnastics Ireland immediately contacted the family to express concern and reassure them that the matter was being investigated. 

"We identified the official concerned and informed the individual in question of the complaint. The official in question accepted fully that what had happened had not been acceptable but stressed that it had not been intentional. The official concerned said that upon realising the mistake they immediately rectified it and ensured that the competitor concerned was presented with her medal before she left the Field of Play (FoP).

"The official also expressed deep regret for what they described as an honest error and requested the opportunity to apologise in person to the competitor and her family. This request was initially declined." 

GI continued: "A written apology provided by the identified individual has since been issued to the competitor and her family.

"At all times we have remained engaged with various parties re the incident including Sport Ireland and the International Gymnastics Federation in addition to various media outlets as and when they have approached us following being contacted regarding this matter.

"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." 

The organisation stressed that the welfare of their 36,000+ members is "at the heart of everything we do". 

They stated, "We have always recognised the duty of care we have for a membership base that starts with young children and is predominately children & teenagers.

"We have always been and will continue to be a very inclusive sport with a very diverse community of members covering all races, ages, genders, sexualities and socio-economic groups. Our 'Safeguarding' policies set out clear standards of behaviour we expect not alone from our coaches and gymnasts but also from our clubs, officials, administrators, parents/guardians and those who attend our events.

"The well-being and safety of gymnasts is at the heart of everything we do. To that end we interact on a continuous basis with bodies such as Sport Ireland, Tusla, the Gardaí and other state agencies/partners to ensure we are always up to date with best practice in relation to member welfare." 

The video, which first appeared online at the time of the event in 2022, was re-circulated on X on Friday (September 22) by a man named Mohamad Safa. 

He posted the video with the following caption: "Welcome to Ireland where people get away with racism! This little black girl broke my heart. Don’t skip this post without leaving a million heart for her. Make her famous…" 

The video has since been viewed over 18 million times and has received over 148,000 likes. 

International gymnast Simone Biles confirmed she sent a video to the girl when the video was first circulated. 

In a comment under Friday's post, she said, "When this video was circulating, her parents reached out. It broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video. There is no room for racism in any sport or at all!"