The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; German: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement.
The IPC's mission is to lead the Paralympic Movement, oversee the delivery of the Paralympic Games and support its 200 plus member organisations to enable Para athletes to achieve sporting excellence. Founded on 22 September 1989 in Düsseldorf, then part of West Germany, its vision is to "make for an inclusive world through Para sport". Furthermore, the IPC aims to use Para sport as a catalyst to change attitudes, legislation, and create greater opportunities for the world's 1.3 billion persons with disabilities.
The IPC has a democratic constitution and structure and is composed of representatives from 187 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs), 18 International Federations, three International Organizations of Sport for the Disabled (IOSDs) and five regional organizations. The IPC's headquarters is located in Bonn, Germany.
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Overview
On the basis of being able to organize the Paralympic Games more efficiently and to give the Paralympic Movement one voice, the four international organizations of sports for disabled people founded the International Co-ordination Committee of World Sports Organizations for the Disabled (ICC) in 1982. In the upcoming years, other organizations joined and the need for a democratically guided organization emerged, as demanded by the nations participating in the Paralympic Movement. They desired a democratic structure, to improve national and regional representation, which led to the foundation of the IPC as it is known today. The 1994 Paralympic Winter Games, in Norway, were the first to be organized by the IPC.
With its 211 member organizations, the IPC functions as an umbrella organization, in contrast to other international sports organizations for athletes with a disability, which are predominantly limited to a single sport or disability.
A 12-strong Governing Board is responsible for the governance of the IPC between meetings of the General Assembly. Robert Steadward became the first President in 1989. Since 2017, Andrew Parsons is the IPC president, while Dr Mike Peters PLY was appointed the Chief Executive Officer in 2019.
Presidents
The International Paralympic Committee has had three presidents to date. Its founding president, who presided over it from 1989 to 2001, was the Canadian Robert Steadward, who had previously founded the Canadian Sports Fund for the Physically Disabled. He was succeeded in 2001 by Philip Craven, a British Paralympian and former President of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation, who served as president until 2017. Craven was succeeded by Brazil's Andrew Parsons, who was IPC Vice President from 2013 to 2017 and a former President of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee.
Governing Board
The IPC Governing Board consists of 12 members, of which 10 are elected at the General Assembly, including the President and two Vice Presidents. The most recent election for the Governing Board was held on 27 September 2025 when Andrew Parsons was elected for a third and final term as IPC president.
Andrew Parsons, President
Leila Marques Mota PLY, Vice President
John Petersson PLY, Vice President
Debra Alexander, Member at Large
Sh. Mohamed Duaij Alkhalifa, Member at Large
Chelsey Gotell PLY, Member at Large
Miki Matheson PLY, Member at Large
Fernando Riaño, Member at Large
Robyn Smith,Member at Large
Bradley Snyder PLY, Member at Large
The IPC Athletes' Council Chairperson, Vladyslava Kravchenko, and IPC Athletes' Council First Vice Chairperson also serve as Board members and have voting rights.
History
Chronology of milestones in the development of the International Paralympic Committee and the Summer and Winter Paralympics.
Publications
Each year the IPC publishes its Annual Report and every four years its Strategic Plan following consultation with IPC members.
Across social media, the IPC maintains several accounts under the @Paralympics banner including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter.
Paralympic Hall of Fame
Until 2016, the IPC inducted former Para athletes into the Hall of Fame in recognition of their sporting achievements.
2006: Jouko Grip , Ulla Renvall , Annemie Schneider
2008: Connie Hansen , Claudia Hengst , Peter Homann , André Viger , Kevin McIntosh (coach)
2010: Tanja Kari , Chris Waddell , Rolf Hettich (coach)
2012: Louise Sauvage , Trischa Zorn-Hudson , Roberto Marson , Frank Ponta , Chris Holmes
2014: Jon Kreamelmeyer , Eric Villalon Fuentes , Verena Bentele
2016: Junichi Kawai , Chantal Petitclerc , Franz Nietlispach , Neroli Fairhall , Martin Morse
Organising the Paralympic Games
The Organizing Committees
In June 2001, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) signed an agreement that would ensure that the staging of the Paralympic Games is automatically included in the bids for the Olympic Games starting during the process to choose the 2008 Summer Olympics host city.
However, the first city to held the Olympics and the Paralympics with the same committee was Barcelona in 1992.But,after the incidents who leds the caotic organization of the 1996 Summer Paralympics,the Salt Lake 2002 Organizing Committee (SLOC), chose to implement the practice of "one bid,two events, one city" during their winning bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Athens and Turin also originally made these same proposals for the 2004 Summer Games and for the 2006 Winter Games.However, both faced very serious problems in the organization of their editions.
The agreement was adjusted in 2003. An extension was signed in June 2006. A further extension was signed in 2012, valid until 2020. In March 2018, a historic long-term extension was signed establishing a partnership until 2032.
IPC members
As of 1 January 2026, the IPC has 213 members made up of 187 National Paralympic Committees, 3 International Organisations of Sport for the Disabled, 5 regions and 18 International Federations.
National Paralympic Committees (NPCs)
NPCs are a national organisation recognised by the IPC as the sole representative of the Paralympic Movement in the NPC's country or territory. As of 8 August 2026, there are 187 NPCs within the Paralympic Movement with the two most recent additions being NPCs from Bolivia and South Sudan in September 2025.
International Organisations of Sport for the Disabled (IOSDs)
IOSDs are international organisations recognised by the IPC as the sole worldwide representative of a specific disability group. The organisations are World Abilitysport, Virtus and International Blind Sport Federation (IBSA).
Regional Organisations
There are five regional organisations recognised by the IPC as the sole representative of IPC Members located within a specific region. The five are: African Paralympic Committee (AfPC), Americas Paralympic Committee (AmPC), Asian Paralympic Committee (AsPC), European Paralympic Committee (EPC), and Oceania Paralympic Committee (OPC)
International Sports Federations (IFs)
An international sport federation is recognised by the IPC as the sole worldwide representative of a specific Para sport on the Paralympic Games sport programme.
There are 18 international federations recognized by the IPC with the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) most recently approved as an IPC member in September 2025. The 18 are as follows:
Badminton World Federation (BWF)
Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI)
International Biathlon Union (IBU)
International Canoe Federation (ICF)
International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC)
International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS)
International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)
International Tennis Federation (ITF)
International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF)
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)
World Archery
World Boccia
World Curling
World ParaVolley
World Rowing
World Taekwondo (WT)
World Triathlon
World Para Sports
The IPC has served as the international federation for multiple sports. As of January 2026, the IPC governs Para athletics, Para ice hockey, Para powerlifting, Para swimming and shooting Para sport.
On 30 November 2016, the IPC adopted the new blanket branding World Para Sports for its sub-committees, as part of an effort to give their governance and associated world championships a brand identity separate from that of the Paralympic Games. For branding and linguistic reasons, the IPC also renamed Paralympic shooting to "shooting Para sport" (to reduce confusion with parachuting), and sledge hockey to "Para ice hockey". Sports contested in the Summer Paralympics began using the new branding immediately. For winter sports, whose competitive seasons had already started by the announcement, only the world championships were immediately changed to reflect the new branding; the full switchover did not occur until the 2017–18 season.
In December 2021 during its General Assembly, the IPC voted on an aspirational mandate to transfer its international governance of Para sports to independent bodies by 2026, either by transferring them to an existing governing body, or spinning off subcommittees as independent federations. A governance review published in October 2019 found that the IPC's governance "created perceptions of conflict of interest, disparity in the application of resources, a sense of unfairness between the IPC Sports and those which are not and confusion about the IPC's role, all of which is impacting its reputation."
In July 2022, the IPC transferred governance of Paralympic alpine skiing, snowboard, cross-country skiing and biathlon to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and International Biathlon Union (IBU) respectively, unifying their governance with their Olympic counterparts. In June 2023, the IPC appointed the British Paralympic Association and UK Sport to assist in spinning off World Para Athletics and World Para Swimming as independent federations that would be based in Manchester. Para dance sport was transferred to World Abilitysport (formerly IWAS) in 2024. In April 2026, the IPC announced that, subject to ratification at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) General Assembly in late 2026, ISSF would assume responsibility for the entire governance, management and administration of shooting Para sport from early 2027.
World Para Athletics
Supervises and co-ordinates the World Para Athletics Championships, regional Championships and other competitions.
Official website: WorldParaAthletics.org (Paralympic.org/athletics)
Sport name: Para athletics
Former sport committee name: IPC Athletics
World Para Ice Hockey
Supervises and co-ordinates the World Para Ice Hockey Championships and other competitions. With the November 2016 rebranding, the official name of the sport was changed from "sledge hockey" to "Para ice hockey". This change was made upon the request of the sport's community, partly due to the word "sledge" having different meanings across languages.
Official website: WorldParaIceHockey.org (Paralympic.org/ice-hockey)
Sport name: Para ice hockey
Former sport committee name: IPC Ice Sledge Hockey
World Para Powerlifting
Supervises and co-ordinates the World Para Powerlifting Championships and other competitions.
Official website: WorldParaPowerlifting.org (Paralympic.org/powerlifting)
Sport name: Para powerlifting
Former sport committee name: IPC Powerlifting
World Shooting Para Sport
Supervises and co-ordinates the World Shooting Para Sport Championships and other competitions. The rebranding saw the sport renamed as "shooting Para sport" to avoid possible confusion with parachuting.
Official website: WorldShootingParaSport.org (Paralympic.org/shooting)
Sport name: Shooting Para sport
Former sport committee name: IPC Shooting
World Para Swimming
Supervises and co-ordinates the World Para Swimming Championships and other competitions.
Official website: WorldParaSwimming.org (Paralympic.org/swimming)
Sport name: Para swimming
Former sport committee name: IPC Swimming
Recognized Federations
The list of 15 International Federations recognized by the IPC in 2025, but who are not IPC members, is as follows:
International Federation of Power Wheelchair Football (FIPFA)
International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF)
International Bowling Federation (IBF)
International Federation of CP Football (IFCP)
International Golf Federation (IGF)
International Handball Federation (IHF)
International Hockey Federation (FIH)
International Sambo Federation (FIAS)
International Surfing Federation (ISF)
Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM)
World Armwrestling Federation (WAF)
World Bowls (WB)
World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF)
World Karate Federation (WKF)
World Sailing (WS)
Worldwide Paralympic Partner programme
The worldwide Paralympic Partner sponsorship programme includes the following commercial sponsors of the Paralympic Games.
ABInBev
Airbnb
Alibaba Group
Allianz
Coca-Cola / Mengniu
Deloitte
OMEGA
Ottobock
P&G
Samsung
TCL
Visa