Mumbai, June 6 (IANS) The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and World Para Sports are seeking partners interested in taking over the governance of the sports of Para-athletics, Para-swimming, or both.

The IPC has run many para sports, including athletics and swimming, for years but as per its vision plan, it has decided to hand over governance of these sports to interested parties and focus on the running of the Paralympic Games. As part of this vision plan, IPC has relinquished governance of shooting and badminton to those sports’ overall governing body.

So, as part of that plan, they now want to hand over governance to parties interested in running para-athletics and para-swimming.

The Expression of Interest (EOI) is open to cities, national governments, sports organisations, and other entities willing to assist with the transfer of governance and establishment of independent bodies for Para athletics and Para swimming, the IPC and World Para Sports informed in a statement on Friday.

The process of transfer of governance of para-athletics and para-swimming was initiated in 2021 with a first phase of EOIs followed by a period of exclusive negotiations with the City of Manchester and UK Sport. While discussions with the UK partners remain ongoing, negotiations are no longer exclusive, and other interested organisations are encouraged to submit their proposals.

Para-athletics is the largest Paralympic sport in terms of both participation and medal events. It has been part of the Games since the first edition of the Games in Rome in 1960. At last year’s Paralympic Games in Paris, one in every four athletes competed in para-athletics.

Para-swimming has been a core part of the Paralympic competition programme since the inaugural edition in Rome. It is the second-largest sport at the Games, accounting for over 25 percent of the medal events and 13 percent of the athletes competing at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

Para-athletics and Para-swimming are part of the World Para Sports, the group of international para-sports under the governance of the IPC, currently based in Bonn, Germany at the IPC Headquarters.

–IANS

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