The International Blind Sports Federation () is a non-profit organisation founded 1981 in Paris, France. It was formerly known as the International Blind Sports Association. IBSA's mission is to promote the full integration of blind and partially-sighted people in society through sport and to encourage people with a

visual impairment Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

to take up and practise sports. IBSA is a full and founding member of the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

(IPC). In March 2022, in light of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, it banned Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from its events. __TOC__

History

The International Blind Sports Association, known by the acronym 'IBSA', was formed in 1981. The inaugural IBSA president was Paralympic runner and skier Jens Bromann (from Denmark) who served eight years, before becoming involved with the International Paralympic Committee from 1988 to 1992. IBSA was one of four organisations, later six, which formed the 'International Co-coordinating Committee Sports for the Disabled in the World' (ICC) in 1982, which on 22 September 1989 became the

, as the global governing body of the Paralympic movement. Second president (1993 to 2001) was Enrique Sanz (from Spain), followed by Enrique Perrez (2001 to 2005; also from Spain). Fourth president Michael Barredo (from Philippines) served two terms, from 2005 to 2013. Jannie Hammershøi (from Denmark), a former Paralympic goalball athlete, commenced in September 2013 to serve three terms. The association changed its name to federation between 2002 and 2003, when based in Spain and used the web address www.ibsa.es. The federation was later relocated and registered to Bonn, Germany. Its logo also changed at sometime from a representation of a globe, to its initials with the federation name below; in both logos, the acronym of IBSA being represented in

Braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

dots. Sixth president Sandro Di Girolamo (from Italy), the president of the Italian blind sports association, commenced a four-year term from Monday 11 October 2021. The term was cut short with an extraordinary general assembly for 30 June 2023, whereupon Ilgar Rahimov (from Azerbaijan) commenced his four-year term.

Sports

IBSA is the international federation for several sports for people with a visual impairment, including three

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

sports ( blind football,

goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a visual impairment, vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball with bells embedded inside it into the opponents' goal. The ball is throw ...

and Para judo),

powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...

ten-pin bowling Tenpin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler bowling form, rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned Tetractys, evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The goal is to knock down all ten Bowlin ...

, nine-pin bowling, torball, and showdown. Competition is held within five regions: Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. For the sport of goalball, competitively Asia and Oceania are drawn together as 'Asia-Pacific' region.

Sporting events

IBSA's showcase event is the IBSA World Championships and Games, held every four years. The first games took place in 1998 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain, followed by the event in 2003 at

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, Canada. The third edition of the games was held in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil, in 2007, and the 2011 games took place in

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

, Turkey. In 2015, between 8 May and 18 May, the 5th IBSA World Championships and Games was held in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea, and included competitions in powerlifting, judo, goalball, football, chess, tenpin bowling, tandem cycling, swimming, showdown, and athletics. IBSA also organizes world and regional championships in many of its sports. Regional or continental championships are generally held in odd years, while world championships take place every four years in even years when there are no Paralympic Games.

Events

IBSA World Games

IBSA World Youth Games (WYC)

* Former name: IBSA World Youth and Student Games

References

External links

IBSA official website
{{Authority control Blind sports organizations Sports organizations established in 1981 Goalball International sports organizations