Paralympic ban lifted

The Paralympic governing body has ruled that athletes with “intellectual disabilities” will once again be in contention in a limited number of events reports Paul Carter

Athletes with learning disabilities will be allowed to compete in the Paralympic Games in London in 2012 after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) voted to overturn a nine-year ban.

Athletes with what the IPC term “intellectual disabilities” (ID) were suspended from all IPC sanctioned competitions following a fakery scandal at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000 after an undercover Spanish journalist, Carlos Ribagorda, revealed that he had played on Spain’s gold-medal winning ID basketball team for two years, and that ten of the 12 squad members had no form of disability.

He said that amongst the squad were several players who played regularly for non-disabled teams, and as a result all team members were subsequently encouraged to grow beards and wear hats to avoid being recognised.

He claimed that only minimal checks of the athletes’ abilities were made by the governing bodies.

Following a lengthy and vociferous campaign against the ban by the International Sports Federation for People with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID) and several learning disability charities across the world, the IPC decided to reinstate ID athletes at the organisation’s general assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Athletics, rowing, swimming and table tennis are the sports now expected to be included in the 2012 Games in London, although a formal schedule for competition has yet to be finalised.

Bernard Atha, chairman of UK Sports Association for People with Learning Disability said that a “great wrong” has been put right.

ID athletes wishing to take part in future competition will be subjected to a rigorous two-tier classification process which will include reviews of an athlete’s medical files, as well as on-site testing that will focus on “sports intelligence”, along with sport-specific tests.

Although the new ruling comes into effect immediately, inclusion of ID athletes will initially be at the discretion of individual International Federations while they become “operationally ready” for the new classification system.

Bob Price, President of INAS-FID, said: ”Naturally, I am delighted with the outcome of the vote. Even though they themselves did nothing wrong, for nine years since Sydney 2000, ID athletes have been excluded from the Paralympic Games and other IPC sanctioned competitions.”

“This resolution brings this unfortunate episode to an end and re-introduces ID athletes to their proper place within the Paralympic Family. I am hugely grateful to the Joint Working Group and its associated research teams and I look forward to seeing ID athletes competing on the world’s stage in London in 2012.”

Tim Reddish, Chairman of ParalympicsGB, the British Paralympic Association, welcomed the IPC decision.

He said: “We have lobbied hard for the re-inclusion of athletes with a learning disability, subject to a robust classification system, and are delighted that IPC and INAS-FID have got us to that point.”

Mencap, which has campaigned vigorously for the reinstatement of ID athletes, also celebrated the decision to lift the ban.

However, it warned that unless funding is made available athletes would not be ready to compete at the London 2012 Games.

Mark Goldring, Mencap’s chief executive, said: “Everyone at Mencap is delighted that after years of campaigning, athletes with a learning disability will no longer be excluded from the Paralympic Games. However without immediate funding, British athletes will remain excluded from London 2012 despite the ban being lifted. This would be a national embarrassment.”

Sir Philip Craven, president of the IPC, said that the move was the result of a “unique and excellent co-operation between sports governance and the scientific community”.

“I wish all ID athletes the best of success in their attempt to set world class performances at future competitions,” he said.