This is Paralympics Australia's response to the SBS Dateline story
A core function of Paralympics Australia is to work with the IPC and National Federations (NF) to ensure all Australian athletes, coaches and support staff from every Paralympic sport are fully compliant with the IPC’s Athlete Classification code. This work is multi-faceted.
For the past two Paralympic cycles, PA has engaged with other leading agencies (ASADA for Rio / Sport Integrity Australia for Tokyo) to implement mandatory classification integrity education for all members – athletes and staff – within elite Paralympic squads.
Completion of this education is a condition of selection onto Australian Paralympic Teams. PA was one of the first National Paralympic Committees in the world to develop a course like this. It outlines the classification process; the requirements of athletes, coaches and support staff to comply; training on ethical decision-making; and an overview of penalties for non-compliance. The core objective of the module is simple - to ensure all Team Members know the rules, abide by the rules or face the consequences.
In addition, PA provides direct education to NF staff with a focus on those within their Paralympic program for sport; website fact sheets; and information directly to athletes via the evaluation consent form and Paralympic Games Deeds of Agreement that all Team members must sign before their selection is confirmed.
PA also recently revised its Athlete Classification Policy to ensure our position on Intentional Misrepresentation is unambiguous. We view Intentional Misrepresentation as cheating and fundamentally contrary to the spirit of Paralympic sport.
On intentional misrepresentation
Anyone who is found guilty of engaging in intentional misrepresentation – whether it be an athlete, coach or support staff member – should be punished to the full extent under the IPC’s Athlete Classification Code and International Federation classification rules.
Ultimately, it is International Federation-trained and certified International Classifiers who are accountable for the delivery of classification and adherence to classification rules and the code for each sport.
In Australia, National Federations (including PA) are responsible for delivery and compliance of national classification procedures. The same accountability with respect to intentional misrepresentation exists at a national level.
It should be noted that national classification outcomes have no bearing on international classification outcomes or selection to Australia Teams competing at international events. The International Classification process is completely independent of the national process.
PA refutes your claim that classification cheating continues to be a significant problem in Para-sports in Australia. The claims made by past athletes that we are aware of have been investigated to varying degrees by a wide range of organisations over several years, including the IPC, PA, other National and International sporting bodies, Government departments, independent third parties and the media.
No evidence of misconduct relating to classification has been uncovered. Any new information received would always be given due and immediate consideration.
There are thousands of classified athletes in Australia across more than 20 sports. We have received only a miniscule number of allegations in comparison, predominantly from an even smaller number of sources who repeatedly make claims without proper evidence or a reasonable understanding of the classification process.
Paralympics Australia is already an advocate for the establishment of an independent body to manage and investigate claims of intentional misrepresentation in classification in Australia.
We have been working with Sport Integrity Australia to explore its capacity to gather intelligence, conduct investigations and issue subsequent sanctions, including bans or suspensions, if misconduct is proven. The response to this work by both SIA and PA has been encouraging.
In the meantime, PA continues to engage with SIA to develop and expand the series of education modules on classification integrity to ensure they are accessible to athletes, coaches, and parents at all points along of the Para-sport pathway, not just at the elite level.
To achieve an international classification, all athletes must undergo rigorous medical testing and physiological testing, conducted both in and out of competition. These tests are conducted and reviewed by a wide range of independent, trained experts (known as Classifiers) under a criteria set by International Governing Bodies of each sport.
Athletes are not classifiers and therefore, are not qualified to objectively comment on the outcome of classification evaluations conducted with other Paralympic athletes at national and international levels. For this reason, Paralympics Australia encourages athletes to not make ill-informed comments about the international classifications of other athletes. The exception, of course, is if they can provide substantive evidence that misconduct related to the classification process has occurred. To this day, no such evidence to support these claims has materialised.
Paralympics Australia is aware of allegations, however no claims provided to us have been supported by substantive evidence.
Australian athletes are instructed, in no uncertain terms, to not alter their capacity before any classification evaluation which may impact or manipulate their classification, as this may well be categorised as Intentional Misrepresentation. This direction is clearly articulated within the Athlete Consent form and PA’s mandatory education modules.
If there is evidence of a breach of their Classification Rules and Regulations, the International Federation for each sport can and should pursue disciplinary action.
PA has always, and will continue to, willingly cooperate with the IPC and International Federations, and actively encourages the co-operation of our members, in any specific requests we receive from all Governing Bodies.
To be perfectly clear, Paralympics Australia has never condoned cheating; has no knowledge of misconduct related to classification; nor is involved in such misconduct. Any claims to the contrary are refuted in the strongest possible terms.
