Welcome to the XII Paralympic Games 17 - 28 September 2004 Athens, Greece April 2003

Sports Events During the years leading to the Olympic Games of 2004, a series of sports events are scheduled in order to test all critical parameters of competition, venue and technological systems. Forty international events, the majority of which will be top-level international sport events, make up an intense calendar to be implemented from Summer 2003 to June 2004. More articles The following is taken from an article posted on IPC

I find this situation to be some where between lopsided and totally unbelievable. Once again it seems the masses are being penalized for a few. January 29, 2001 MEDIA RELEASE Bonn/Germany � The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on January 27 suspended the International Sports Organization for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID) from IPC membership. The president of INAS-FID, Mr. Fernando Martin Vicente, was also suspended from the IPC Executive Committee. Both suspensions are effective immediately. Further decisions will be dependent upon the outcome of the IPC�s investigations. Because serious problems regarding the determination of eligibility of athletes with an intellectual disability became evident during the last months, the IPC excludes all athletes with an intellectual disability from all IPC activities. The results of the IPC�s investigations will determine further decisions. The Spanish Paralympic Committee discovered last December that 10 of the 12 members of the Spanish Paralympic Basketball team for athletes with an intellectual disability were not intellectually disabled and were thus not eligible to participate in the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. The IPC appreciates the Spanish Paralympic Committee�s internal investigations and recognizes its strong commitment to a correct eligibility process for the Paralympic Games. All Paralympic medals recovered as a result of the Spanish Paralympic Committee�s findings will be returned to the IPC. Media Release 2 February 2003 INAS-FID Eligibility System Unsatisfactory: Athletes with Intellectual Disability Cannot Participate in 2004 Paralympics Bonn, Germany - The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Management Committee yesterday decided that events for intellectually disabled athletes will not be included in the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games. This decision was taken because the revised system for testing athletes' eligibility submitted by the International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID) did not meet the conditions required by the IPC. The Athens 2004 Paralympic Games event programme was set in October 2002 in order to meet the timelines for the organisation of the Games. INAS-FID was granted an extended deadline of 31 January 2003 to meet the conditions set by the IPC 2001 General Assembly after several athletes were found guilty of cheating at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games by wrongly claiming to have an intellectual disability. The IPC's conditions require athletes to present primary rather than secondary documentation of their eligibility, for INAS-FID to create and test a sport-specific eligibility system and for athletes with an intellectual disability to participate at Paralympic Games under the same protest rules as all other athletes. These conditions were fully accepted by INAS-FID in October 2002. The IPC Management Committee recognized that some progress had been made by INAS-FID, especially with regard to the development of a more stringent verification procedure of documents that are to prove an athlete's intellectual disability. However, INAS-FID had fallen short of developing the sports specific component of its eligibility system and the development and implementation of protest procedures in line with the IPC policy. Under these circumstances the IPC decided that events for athletes with an intellectual disability could not go ahead in a fair manner at the 2004 Athens Paralympics and that there was a risk of potential cheats. "The IPC will continue supporting INAS-FID in its efforts to develop a new eligibility system and protest procedures which comply with the IPC's conditions," said IPC President Phil Craven today. If you would like to supports the athletes who have worked hard and do in fact qualify fairly under the current system please send an email to: [email protected] showing your support.