Paralympics shock Wheelchair basketball facing axe from Tokyo Games
Wheelchair basketball is at risk of being excluded from the Paralympics over doubts about it meeting criteria for impairment and disability.
The International Paralympic Committee is today expected to inform the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation what actions must be taken to preserve its status ahead of Tokyo in August and Paris in 2024.
A source described the situation as “serious” and the IPC is understood to be keeping all options open, including excluding a sport that is a main medal hope for Britain.
The British men’s and women’s teams qualified for Tokyo after winning respective gold and silver medals in the European Championships last year. The men are world champions.
Wheelchair basketball is one of the biggest recipients of lottery funding, with UK Sport awarding it £7.2 million in the current cycle.
The men’s team have won medals in four of the past six Paralympics and participation in wheelchair basketball across Britain has boomed since London 2012.
The issue revolves around the code of 10 impairment classifications agreed at the IPC’S general assembly in Mexico City in 2015, regarded as the rule book by which all members and sports must abide. The IPC also requires each sport to have a “minimum disability criteria”.
The IWBF, however, has its own classifications which recognise other impairments and the IPC believes that this has led to athletes competing who have impairments not recognised by the agreed Paralympics code.
One solution would be to adopt that code, but that could mean current athletes being deemed ineligible.
The IWBF said previously that an action plan had been agreed with the IPC to ensure that its “classification philosophy” was in line with the Paralympics. There have since been further talks over eligibility and classification alignment, but the IWBF will not comment before the IPC has responded.
British sports are being asked to submit their funding plans for Paris, and UK Sport is likely to want clarity on the issue before making firm decisions.