The 23 sports scheduled to take place at Tokyo 2020 had been due to be finalised at a meeting of the IPC Governing Board in Berlin next Tuesday (October 7).

However, it has been announced today that the selection process has been put back until a meeting of the IPC Governing Board scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi from January 30 to February 1.

A total of 24 sports are in the running for 2020, including the 22 sports that will feature at Rio 2016 together with Para-badminton and Para-taekwondo, which were put through to the final stage of the selection process in March of this year.

Powerchair football, 3-on-3 intellectually impaired basketball, electric wheelchair hockey, amputee football, one person multi-hull sailing, blind match racing sailing and 3-on-3 wheelchair basketball had all initially applied for inclusion at Tokyo 2020.

At next week's meeting in Berlin, the IPC says it will review all the submitted applications and the management team's recommendations, and will then decide which sports should definitely be included in six years' time.

Those sports not confirmed on Tuesday will then be asked to present additional information to the IPC, addressing the issues identified in their applications.

"Our aim from the start has been to make this as open and transparent a process as possible," said IPC chief executive, Xavier Gonzalez.

"We want to ensure that the final Tokyo 2020 sports programme is fresh and features the best sports possible.

"We can have up to 23 sports in Tokyo and, in consultation with the IOC (International Olympic Committee), have agreed to finalise the sports programme and the total number of athletes in the New Year.

"Although some of the sports will be rubber-stamped for inclusion on Tuesday, the final list of sports will not be decided until the next IPC Governing Board meeting in late January.

"This gives an opportunity for those sports we have identified some issues with during the review process to present additional information for consideration by the IPC Governing Board."

The final make-up of the 23 sports for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will be decided next year ©Getty Images




The 22 sports currently on the summer Games programme are: athletics, archery, boccia, Para-canoe, cycling, equestrian, football 5-a-side, football 7-a-side, goalball, judo, powerlifting, rowing, sailing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, Para-triathlon, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.

The two latest additions are Para-canoe and Para-triathlon, and both will make their Games debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympics after being voted on to the programme at the IPC Governing Board meeting in Guangzhou, China in December 2010.

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will be held from August 25 until September 6

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