Paralympic Sailing to be dropped from Tokyo 2020 Games

Statements regarding last weekend's disastrous news from ISAF and the RYA

On Saturday the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced that the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will feature 22 sports, with badminton and taekwondo included for the first time. However, disastrously, one of the two sports previously included and now excluded for Tokyo in sailing.

Sir Philip Craven, IPC President, said: “To reach this decision, the IPC undertook the most extensive and rigorous review process ever of all the sports which started in November 2013. All were assessed against the same criteria and our aim all along has been to ensure that the final Tokyo 2020 Paralympic sports programme is fresh and features the best para-sports possible.

“The Board’s final decision was not an easy one and, after much debate, we decided not to include two sports – football 7-a-side and sailing – from the Tokyo 2020 programme for the same reason. Both did not fulfil the IPC Handbook’s minimum criteria for worldwide reach.”

The IPC Handbook states only team sports widely and regularly practised in a minimum of 24 countries and three IPC regions will be considered for inclusion in the Paralympic Games and for individual sports a minimum of 32 countries in three IPC regions.

Sir Philip Craven added: “Although the IPC Governing Board approved the inclusion of cycling, it did express serious reservations regarding the sustainability of the track cycling discipline. While a decision on the Tokyo 2020 medal events programme will not be made until 2017, the Board encourages the UCI to work towards increasing both the number of high-performance track cyclists and the number of opportunities for them to compete at an international level.”

Following the submission of applications from the eligible sports, the IPC management team undertook a rigorous assessment of all applications. Sports were assessed for worldwide participation in terms of countries and continents, where the sport is regularly practiced, quadrennial competition programme, athlete classification, anti-doping programme, rules and regulations, and initiatives undertaken to make their sport more attractive.

On completion of the review process, the IPC management team made recommendations to the IPC Governing Board ahead of their October 2014 meeting in Berlin, Germany, where 16 sports were approved for inclusion. Eight sports that were not approved at October’s meeting were asked to provide additional information to the IPC addressing issues identified in their applications. This information was reviewed and a further analysis provided to the IPC Governing Board ahead of this week’s meeting. The IPC Governing Board then decided which of the eight remaining sports should be included in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games which will be held from 25 August - 6 September 2020.

Since then ISAF's Disabled Sailing Committee (IFDS) has stated "it is profoundly disappointed by the decision of the IPC to exclude sailing from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. IFDS responded in a timely and comprehensive manner to queries from IPC, with details of sailors that participate regularly in international regattas or national championships, on Paralympic boats.

"IFDS ensures an extensive quadrennial program of international competitions replicating the Olympic Program organized by the International Sailing Federation, including ISAF Sailing World Cup. IFDS sanctions and organises yearly Combined World Championships in the Paralympic classes.

"Development has resulted in the regular addition of new countries to competitive sailing. The process of merging with ISAF (with a membership of 139 Member National Authorities) was completed in November of 2014, with the main aim of opening a whole new field for the development of disabled sailing. During the period of pre-merging, ISAF always respected the independence of IFDS decisions. Through ISAF’s development programmes, worldwide participation initiatives and event structure, the opportunities for disabled sailing are better than ever before.

"IFDS fully appreciates how devastated all the stakeholders are by IPC's decision, be they sailors, coaches, sponsors, National Sailing or Paralympic Authorities.

"Now ISAF will promptly address any items identified by the IPC in a bid to reinstate sailing back into the Paralympic Games as soon as possible."

The RYA has similarly stated: "This is hugely disappointing news for the sport of disabled sailing worldwide, for British Sailing Team athletes who are already working hard towards Tokyo, and is a loss to the Paralympic Games itself as sailing provides a unique element to the sporting programme.

"We will be discussing with ISAF Disabled Sailing Committee as to how we might support them if there is any further recourse to be had, as we understand that there are currently only 22 out of a maximum possible 23 sports on the programme for Tokyo 2020.

"In the meantime we’ll be doing all we can to get our teams on the podium for Rio 2016."