What do I need to know about para sport classification as a South African athlete of any age? Eligible impairments, who classifies you, evaluation sessions, sport class status, re-assessment, protests and appeals.
Classification is how para sport decides who is eligible to compete and groups eligible athletes into sport classes, minimising the impact of impairment so that results are decided by factors other than the impairment (IPC Classification Code 2025, Article 1).
It does two things:
Who needs it
The 2025 Code took effect on 1 January 2025 and binds all IPC members and their international federations.
The IPC Classification Code 2025 (Article 8) recognises seven eligible impairments:
Physical impairments (from a condition of the central or peripheral nervous system, or musculoskeletal):
Vision impairment:
6. Reduced or no visual function, even with the best possible glasses or lenses, from a condition of the eye, optic nerve or visual pathways or cortex of the brain.
Intellectual impairment:
7. A health condition restricting general mental functions, including cognitive functions and their development over the lifespan.
Each sport chooses which of these it caters for. Some, such as para athletics, include all of them; others, such as para judo, cater for only one.
Any impairment not on the list of seven eligible impairments is a Non-Eligible Impairment (IPC Classification Code 2025, Article 9). Examples include:
So, for example, a hearing impairment on its own does not make an athlete eligible for Paralympic classification.
If you have both kinds: you can still be evaluated on your eligible impairment, as long as the non-eligible one doesn't stop the panel from carrying out the evaluation. For example, an athlete with osteoarthritis may have impaired passive range of movement (eligible) and pain (not eligible). If the pain prevents a proper evaluation, a sport class might not be allocated.
National level: the South African Sports Association for Physically Disabled (SASAPD) is a member of SASCOC and is recognised as the custodian of physically disabled sport in South Africa. Classification evaluations are carried out by SASAPD-certified classifiers. SASAPD covers eight sports:
To get started, contact SASAPD or your provincial sport convenor.
International level: at the Paralympic Games, World Championships and Paralympic qualifying events, classification is done by panels appointed by each sport's international federation, under the IPC Classification Code. Your national federation submits your diagnostic information and is your link to that process, including any protest, appeal or medical review.
The IPC Classification Code 2025 (Article 5) sets out four stages:
| Stage | What is checked | How |
|---|---|---|
| 1. UHC Assessment | That you have (or have had) at least one medically or clinically diagnosed underlying health condition | Paperwork only: the diagnostic information your national federation submits |
| 2. Eligible Impairment Assessment | That you have an eligible impairment catered for by the sport, consistent with that condition, with no inconsistencies | In person, at an evaluation session |
| 3. MIC Assessment | That your impairment meets the sport's Minimum Impairment Criteria | Evaluation session |
| 4. Sport Class allocation | Your sport class (how much the impairment affects the tasks fundamental to the sport) and your sport class status (whether and when you'll be reviewed) | Evaluation session, sometimes confirmed by watching you compete (Observation Assessment) |
Stages 2 to 4 are carried out by a Classification Panel, normally at least two classifiers. Each sport has its own minimum impairment criteria and sport classes, so you are classified separately for each sport you compete in.
Nationally: SASAPD says athletes must provide medical evidence and undergo functional testing as part of classification.
Internationally (IPC Classification Code 2025, Articles 11-12):
Under the IPC Classification Code 2025 (Articles 25 and 31):
Who can come with you
What to bring
What you must disclose
How to behave
Classification panels must normally have at least two classifiers.
Alongside your sport class you get a sport class status saying whether and when you must be classified again (IPC Classification Code 2025, Articles 20-22).
| Status | Meaning | Can I compete? |
|---|---|---|
| New (N) | You passed the diagnostic stage but have not yet had an evaluation session | You must attend an evaluation session before competing at a covered competition (unless the international federation says otherwise) |
| Confirmed (C) | Your sport class is unlikely to change | Yes. No further classification unless a protest, appeal, medical review or rule change alters it |
| Review at the Next Available Opportunity (R-NAO) | You need another evaluation soon, e.g. you are borderline, still maturing, have a fluctuating or progressive impairment, or were classified by a single classifier or classifiers of your own nationality | You must complete an evaluation session before your next covered competition |
| Review with a Fixed Review Date (R-FRD) | Another evaluation is needed, but not this year or season | Yes, until the fixed review date. The date is typically no more than four years after your last evaluation |
| Expired (E) | You have retired (or, if the international federation uses it, missed a review deadline) | Not until you meet the international federation's requirements to return |
A "covered competition" is the Paralympic Games, World Championships, Paralympic qualification events and other events named by the international federation.
Under the IPC Classification Code 2025 you can be found not eligible at three stages:
Automatic second assessment
If you are designated "Not Eligible - Eligible Impairment (Re-evaluation)" or "Not Eligible - Minimum Impairment Criteria (Re-evaluation)", you are entitled to a second assessment by a second Classification Panel as soon as reasonably practicable (Articles 14.7 and 16.5):
Because of this automatic second look, a "Not Eligible" designation cannot be protested (Article 41.2). Your national federation can still appeal if a rules breach in the process could reasonably have caused the decision. If your impairment later changes, your national federation can ask for a Medical Review.
Not personally. Under the IPC Classification Code 2025 (Articles 40-50), only your national federation can protest or appeal on your behalf, and only for athletes under its jurisdiction.
| Protest | Appeal | |
|---|---|---|
| What it challenges | The sport class you were given | Any part of the process, where a breach of the international federation's rules could reasonably have caused a wrong eligibility decision, sport class or sport class status |
| Who can bring it | Your national federation (or the international federation itself) | Your national federation only |
| Test | A reasonable basis to believe the sport class may be wrong | A rules breach that could reasonably have caused the wrong outcome. It is not a chance to dispute the classifiers' expert opinion |
| Outcome | A new evaluation session by a Protest Panel with no classifiers from the original decision | The appeal body can only affirm or set aside the decision; it cannot give you a new sport class |
Other points:
You need a Medical Review (IPC Classification Code 2025, Article 37).
Each international federation sets its own procedure for requesting and running Medical Reviews.