S’pore has potential to host more world para c’ships: International Paralympic Committee chief
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International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons speaking at the Singapore Disability Sports Forum at Raffles City Convention Centre on Sept 19.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Follow topic:
- IPC president Andrew Parsons praises Singapore's ability to host world-level para sporting events, citing expertise, venues and potential appetite of the SNPC.
- Parsons says international federations should determine rules for transgender athletes' participation, guided by science, not stigma, for each individual sport.
- Parsons aims for closer IOC/IPC partnership and prioritises establishing a global Youth Paralympics to promote equality and increase resources for para-athletes.
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SINGAPORE – With organisational expertise and state-of-the-art venues, Singapore has the potential to host more world para-sports championships, said International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons in an interview with The Straits Times on Sept 19.
“The sky’s the limit,” added the 48-year-old Brazilian, who believes a lot would depend on the Singapore National Paralympic Council’s “appetite”.
Parsons is in town for the Singapore Disability Sports Forum at the Raffles City Convention Centre, ahead of the Sept 21-27 Toyota World Para Swimming Championships at the OCBC Aquatic Centre, where the world’s best para-swimmers will compete for honours and showcase their ability to push boundaries.
This is another top-level competition that the Republic has hosted recently, coming after the July 11-Aug 3 World Aquatics Championships.
The meet featured a record field of nearly 2,500 athletes from 206 countries and territories, and was attended by about 140,000 spectators across 24 days.
Other global events taking place here in recent years include the 2023 Women’s World Floorball Championship and 2024 World Chess Championship.
Asked which other world para championships the Republic could be a strong candidate to host, Parsons told ST: “You hosted the first-ever Youth Olympics here more than 10 years ago… I think Singapore has the potential. You have an incredible number of sports venues and they have good accessibility.
“They are state-of-the-art sport venues and you have a national Paralympic committee that knows how to deliver events. So I do think that there is potential to host any kind of event from any Paralympic sport here in Singapore.
“It depends on the appetite of the Singaporean Paralympic committee. Boccia is a very important sport here, but from athletics to swimming to indoor sports, I think the sky’s the limit when it comes to organising para-sport events.
“You have the expertise, the venues, the appetite. I think the future looks bright.”
Parsons also spoke about the participation of transgender athletes in the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles, as questions have arisen with the United States tightening its visa rules.
US President Donald Trump has said he will prevent transgender women from competing in female competitions at LA 2028 by denying them visas to travel to the US.
On Aug 4, the Trump administration said it has updated its policy to restrict visa eligibility for transgender women seeking to compete in women’s sports.
When asked about the situation, Parsons said: “We work together with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the organising committee and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, to make sure that every athlete in the world (who has) qualified for the Games has the opportunity to attend.
“It’s an ongoing issue that we have to monitor, and we have to understand the current interpretation of the US administration. But we cannot make general statements, because this is a sport-by-sport decision.
“Some sports might not even allow transgenders to participate, so we need to tackle the issues as they are.”
At the 2024 Games in Paris, visually impaired Italian runner Valentina Petrillo became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in the history of the Paralympics, drawing criticism from observers who believed that she had an unfair advantage as she reached the women’s 200m and 400m semi-finals.
But Parsons believes that it is up to the international federations to “define the rules of participation” for transgender athletes, adding: “We don’t envisage having a general ruling for our sports, because the sports are different.
“What we want is that this discussion is guided by science and not guided by social stigma or different opinions on transgender in general.”
International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons hopes there will be a Youth Paralympics one day.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Later in September, Parsons will be seeking re-election for a third and final term.
The former Brazilian Paralympic Committee president became IPC’s chief in 2017 and was elected unopposed for a second four-year term in 2021.
He will be up against South Korean Dong Hyun-bae, president of the Korea Para Nordic Skiing Federation, at the IPC General Assembly in Seoul on Sept 27.
In his manifesto, Parsons said he hopes that the IPC can work closely with the IOC and take the partnership to “the next level”.
The former journalist elaborated in the interview: “There are many things that I would like to do, but the main thing is this opportunity with the Olympic movement.
“It can really change the environment for para-athletes around the world, and also bring more resources into the Paralympic system to shorten that gap.”
He is also continuing to explore an “appetite” for an inaugural Youth Paralympics, which he had also talked about earlier in his tenure. While there are youth para meets at the regional level in the Americas, Asia and Europe, there has yet to be one on a global level.
