Wheelchair basketballers face eligibility tests

Some of the most successful players in British wheelchair basketball history must have their eligibility reassessed following a warning that the sport could be excluded from this year’s Tokyo Paralympics.

The International Paralympic Committee wants all participants registered in the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation’s 4.0 and 4.5 classes to be reassessed over the next three months amid concern that some do not meet the 10 agreed “impairment” types.

An IPC statement warned: “Players found without an eligible impairment will not be allowed to compete at the Games.”

British wheelchair basketball lists 12 players on its website for each of the men’s and women’s teams, of which a third are classified either as 4.0 or 4.5. These include Terry Bywater, who has competed in four Paralympics, as well as Gaz Choudhry, a world and European champion, George Bates, Lee Manning, Helen Freeman, Amy Conroy, Madeleine Thompson and Jude Hamer.

British Wheelchair Basketball said it was “shocked” by yesterday’s announcement. “It is unacceptable that the IPC and IWBF have left our sport, nationally and globally, in such a precarious position so close to the Tokyo Paralympics,” said a statement.

UK Sport, which has invested £7.2 million in wheelchair basketball over this Paralympic cycle, does not provide funds for athletes who are not in the Olympics or Paralympics.

Final decisions on funding for the Paralympics in Paris will be taken in December.