Opening a new chapter for para sports

On behalf of the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, sending greetings to President of the International Paralympic Committee Andrew Parsons, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong affirmed that the visit of President Andrew Parsons, one of the highest-ranking officials at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), will help elevate Vietnamese sports for people with disabilities (PWDs) through the support and close coordination of the IPC.

Sharing at the meeting, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong pointed out 3 main difficulties of Vietnamese disabled sports including: Awareness, Human resources, and Specific assessment criteria.

Overview of the meeting

Accordingly, sponsorship of sports events for the disabled is still considered a charitable activity rather than a regular sporting event. In addition, the human resources for specialized coaches for the disabled are still lacking, most of whom are coaches from regular sports concurrently. Along with that, the criteria for assessing and classifying disability levels are still incomplete.

Agreeing with Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong, IPC Chairman Andrew Parsons said that the problem of awareness also exists in many countries. This is a big challenge, requiring strong involvement of the media to change awareness.

Through promotional activities, event communication, direct and indirect monitoring, people will understand that disabled sports events such as Paralympics, Paragames... are not only humanitarian but are truly sports competitions.

Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong took a souvenir photo with Chairman Andrew Parsons

"Since 2017, IPC has always emphasized human rights. We are always ready to support Vietnam in propaganda work, bringing copyrighted images and television to change perceptions. The number here is not just 4,000 or 5,000 people participating in sports activities, but also 1.3 billion people with disabilities in the world " - Chairman Andrew Parsons shared.

Providing more information about the working session with the Vietnam Disabled Sports Association that took place this morning (May 15), President Andrew Parsons emphasized that the two sides had a high level of consensus during the discussion, in which IPC can support the implementation of a number of projects for athlete groups competing internationally, support athlete classification... In addition, IPC also has a number of non-refundable sponsorship packages for member countries.

President Andrew Parsons expressed his hope that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam Sports Administration will facilitate the implementation of projects in the coming time, thereby opening a new chapter in cooperation between IPC and Vietnam, not only in sports events, but also in mass activities.

Responding to Chairman Andrew Parsons, Deputy Minister Hoang Dao Cuong affirmed that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will increase support for disabled sports, and at the same time propose to the Government to amend the Sports Law and related Decrees that are lacking for disabled sports.

The Deputy Minister assigned the Vietnam Sports Department and the Vietnam Disabled Sports Association to continue to closely coordinate with the IPC in the implementation of upcoming work, and at the same time have a thorough plan to prepare for the Vietnam Disabled Sports Teams to participate in the upcoming congresses./.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/mo-ra-mot-chuong-moi-cho-the-thao-nguoi-khuet-tat-20250515164614358.htm