FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez has been unanimously re-elected President of the Association of Paralympic Sports Organisations (APSO) for the four-year term 2021-2025.
Ibáñez was re-elected at the APSO General Assembly which took place prior to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) General Assembly where Andrew Parsons (BRA) was himself re-elected IPC President for a second consecutive four-year term.
“It is a huge honour to continue in my role as APSO President and I would like to thank the APSO membership for their confidence in me,” Ibáñez said.
“As some Paralympic Sports begin the move to International Federations and other organisational structures, APSO and its members are well placed to provide these sports with the necessary expertise and experience to ensure a smooth transition process.
“As the Paralympic Games in Tokyo have shown, Para Sport is growing in stature and has an important role to play in changing views and perceptions about disabilities in communities around the world. And APSO is committed to working with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to build a world where diversity and inclusion is the norm.”
Ibáñez was first elected APSO President in 2017, when the independent association was created to bring together the International Federations that govern 19 Paralympic sports included in the summer and winter Paralympic Games. The role of APSO is to unite, promote and support International Federations governing sports on the programmes of both Paralympic Games and to coordinate their common interests and goals.
Tom Dielen (World Archery), Colin Grahamslaw (World Curling Federation), Charmaine Hooper (International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation) and Steve Loader (International Wheelchair Rugby Federation) were also elected to the APSO Executive Board.
The APSO Executive Board now includes representatives from three Olympic sports (one winter and two summer sports), one representative from an independent para sport and one from an International Organisation of Sport for the Disabled (IOSD).
A strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, Ibáñez is also a member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governance Review Group since 2018, Chair of the ASOIF Diversity and Gender Equality Consultative Group and a member of the IOC Gender Equality Working Group.
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