Mentally disabled may not be allowed into London Paralympics

Dame Tanni Grey Thompson, the most successful British Paralympian of all time

Thursday, 18, Sep 2008 12:01

The International Paralympics Committee (IPC) has refused to confirm whether it will allow mentally handicapped people to compete in London's 2012 Paralympics Games.

Mentally disabled people have been banned from participating since the Spanish basketball team at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics were discovered to have not undergone tests ascertaining their disability.

The committee's response to the debacle was to ban the mentally disabled from the Games.

They have now announced the athletes will be allowed to compete on the regional and world stage in 2009, but refused to confirm their status for London 2012.

The UK Sports Association has reacted angrily at the committee's reluctance, calling the decision "disappointing".

The committee did, however, describe their inclusion as a "viable and reasonable objective".

"I am horrified the International Paralympics Authority hasn't fully sanctioned the inclusion of these athletes at London 2012," said the Liberal Democrat's Olympic spokesman on the London Assembly, Dee Doocey.

"The IPC's comments that the athletes' inclusion is a 'viable and reasonable objective' is just a poor statement of intent which need not be backed up with any concrete action."

Spain was stripped of their intellectual disability basketball gold medals just after the Sydney Games closed, following explosive revelations from team member and undercover journalist Carlos Ribagorda

After describing how he and several of his team-mates had not been tested for intellectual disability, the IPC investigation found required tests establishing that the IQ of competitors was below 70 were not conducted by the Spanish Paralympic Committee.

The Beijing Paralympics Games concluded yesterday, with Team GB coming second in the medal table.