How does player classification work?

Wheelchair basketball uses a functional classification system run by the IWBF, in line with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athlete Classification Code.

Classes: every player is given a point value. The recognised classes are 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0, with half-point classes (1.5, 2.5, 3.5) for players who don't fit exactly into one class. 4.5 is for players with the least impairment. The IWBF rules list the valid classes as 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5.

How a class is decided: it is based on your functional capacity to do basketball skills: pushing, pivoting, shooting, rebounding, dribbling, passing and catching. Above all, it depends on your trunk movement and stability (your "volume of action"), meaning how far you can reach without holding the chair before you overbalance. It is not a judgement of how good a player you are.

Eligibility for international play: to play for your country at an IWBF competition, you must have one of the IPC's eligible impairments and meet the sport's Minimum Impairment Criteria under the IWBF 2021 Player Classification Rules. The eligible impairments are impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis. New players go through a Player Evaluation process first.

ID card: in IWBF main official competitions, each player must have an Official Player Classification ID card showing their point value. The value can change during a tournament, up until the play-off round.