Mohamed Al-Fayed helps deaf star to Olympics
Mohamed Al-Fayed has given £10,000 to a world champion deaf footballer, who faced having his dreams shattered by a change in government sports funding.
Ben Lampert played for the Great Britain deaf football team that won gold at the 2005 deaflympics in Australia, but until recently it appeared unlikely he would get the chance to defend the crown.
Al-Fayed stepped in following a government decision earlier this year that diverted funding away from UK deaf sport to the 2012 London Olympics. This meant Lampert and his team-mates needed £3,000 each to make the 2009 games in Taiwan this September.
Lampert, who plays for Fulham Deaf Football Club, is ecstatic that he’ll get the chance to defend the gold medal him and his team-mates won in 2005 following a 2-1 win over Iran in the final.
He believes that deaf sport is hugely important for all talented deaf athletes and is hoping that the Great Britain deaf football team can encourage younger deaf athletes to develop and keep playing sport.
As featured on fulhamweb.com.
