The debut Satellite World Cup event is scheduled to be held in Fréjus in France from April 29 until May 1, with further competitions scheduled this year in Klagenfurt in Austria, São Paulo in Brazil and in a city in Asia.

Satellite World Cups are set to sit below IWAS World Cups, regional Championships and World Championships in offering up to 30 per cent of world ranking points.

Costs and logistics are intentionally kept lower than the higher level events with the aim of increasing the number of nations able to host competitions.

IWAS' wheelchair fencing development officer Alberto Cruz explained that the Satellite World Cup offers an important opportunity for new fencers.

"After the successful launch of the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Academy in 2021, we have been looking at other ways we can encourage more countries, coaches, athletes and referees to build their wheelchair fencing programmes and hosting capabilities," Cruz said.

"The IWAS Wheelchair Fencing Satellite World Cup is the perfect environment for new fencers and support staff to experience international competition.

"Athletes will compete in categories A, B or C and so must be classified beforehand, and this is something they can do at these new events.

"With the added incentive of gaining partial world ranking points and a lower cost to participate and host compared to other, more high level events, we are really excited to be able to offer this opportunity."

IWAS also plans to launch a Development Cup open competition without categories, and Cruz believes that its aim of expanding participation in wheelchair fencing is already beginning to bear fruit.

"Our activities have already attracted new countries such as Costa Rica and Jamaica to wheelchair fencing," he commented.

"We hope that by building the calendar at lower levels we can encourage more nations to take to the pistes and also host, as well as support the growth of those who have already joined us."