The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) was founded in Paris, France in 1981 and was formalised as a legal entity in 1985 during the General Assembly held in Hurdal, Norway. It was registered as a non-profit and public interest body at the Spanish National Sports Council (CSD) in March 1996.

 

As a full member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), IBSA is the legitimate representatives of sport for the blind and has more than one hundred member countries.

 

IBSA believes that sport is the ideal means to promote the integration of the disabled people in general and the blind in particular. Sports can also help disabled people to overcome their disability by strengthening their ability and self-esteem to normalize their living environment.

 

To promote sports for the blind and visually impaired;

To foster friendship among blind athletes;

To motivate and get as many blind people as possible involved in sporting;

To defend the Olympic ideal and act in accordance with its principles.

 

 

 

To maintain close cooperation with all organisations that work in the blind and visually impaired sector;

To promote any social and cultural events that might raise awareness of the relevance of sports practice for blind and visually impaired persons;

To promote and disseminate the ideas underlying both competition and recreational sport for the blind;

To promote the aims and ideas of IBSA at schools for the blind and among blind youngsters in general;

To plan, promote and coordinate international events and activities

To establish universally accepted rules for blind sports;

To establish a register of records;

To provide aid to those institutions and individuals who work in the field of blind sports to act as the maximum authority in all cases, except where the decision depends on a jury at an international competition.

 

 

Title	First Name	Given Name	Function	Nation
Mr.	Michael	BARREDO	President	PHI
Mr.	Serafín	Lizoaín	Vice-president	ESP
Mr.	Michel	Berthezene	Secretary General	FRA
Ms.	Silvia	Aldini	Treasurer	ITA
Mr.	Antonio	Menescal	Technical Director	BRA
Mr.	Georges	Challe	Medical Director	FRA
Mr.	James	Leask	Deputy Technical Director	CAN