Andrew Parsons re-elected IPC president for third and final term
SEOUL; Andrew Parsons was re-elected president of the International Paralympic Committee for a third and final four-year term at the 2025 IPC General Assembly in Seoul, South Korea.
The Brazilian received 109 of the 177 valid votes to be chosen over fellow presidential candidate Dong Hyun Bae of South Korea who received 68 votes.
Parsons said; “I’m really happy, I think it shows the confidence and the trust of the IPC membership with the direction of where we are going with the Paralympic Movement.“From a personal point of view, being able to finish things that I started in 2017 when I was first elected, but also the opportunity to initiate new projects, open new doors and new fronts in my last four years will be incredible. I’m grateful to the Paralympic family for this wonderful opportunity.
“I’m feeling a mixture of joy, happiness, and pride, but overall, I want to thank from the bottom of my heart the trust the IPC membership has placed in me. I’m immensely excited for the next four years.”
Parsons, the former president of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee and the Americas Paralympic Committee, was first elected to the IPC Governing Board in 2009. Before becoming the IPC’s third president in 2017, he served as vice-president between 2013 and 2017.
During his first eight years as President, Parsons secured a long-term partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through to 2032 and changed the IPC’s strategic direction.
Parsons successfully steered the Paralympic Movement through the pandemic and has overseen the successful delivery of the PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games were the ‘most spectacular’ in history setting several new benchmarks and attracting a record number of NPCs and athletes.
At the 2025 IPC General Assembly, IPC member organisations made up of National Paralympic Committees, International Federations and International Organisations of Sport for the Disabled also elected Portugal’s Leila Marques Mota first vice-president and Denmark’s John Petersson as second vice-president. The pair succeed New Zealand’s Duane Kale who served the maximum number of terms as IPC Governing Board member and could not stand for re-election.
The IPC General Assembly decided to adjourn after the first round of the elections for Members-at-Large due to time constraints. The election of the Members-at-large to the IPC Governing Board will continue at the earliest possible opportunity. The IPC will convene a remote Extraordinary General Assembly for this purpose in accordance with the IPC Constitution.
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