Parsons to lead Brazil another four years

IPC Governing Board member Andrew Parsons was re-elected as the President of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee. 14 Mar 2013

A picture of a man giving a medal to an athlete during a medal ceremony

Andrew Parsons will lead the Brazilian Paralympic Committee for the next four years now.

ⒸBrazil NPC

By IPC

"The new mandate is an opportunity to continue the work that is going so well.”

At a meeting in Brasilia, Brazil on Wednesday (13 March) current President of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons, was re-elected by to lead the organisation for the next four years.

He heads up the single slate of officers, which also includes Vice Presidents Mizael Conrado and Ivaldo Brandao. According to the Brazilian Paralympic Committee’s statute, an elected board member is eligible for re-election once. Parsons was elected to the committee in 2009 and is therefore unable to run again in 2017.

"The new mandate is an opportunity to continue the work that is going so well,” Parsons said following his re-election.

“We will try to correct any mistakes from the last four years and improve. We have been able to bring the athletes into our centre and will continue to invest in our team, support the professionals and improve the structure. We have an ambitious and bold goal for the Rio 2016 Games – to finish in fifth place. The medals will not only represent a victory for Brazil, but also a victory for people with disabilities in our country.”

At the meeting, Parsons presented an overview of the organisation’s achievements in sports, administration and finance over the last four years. He also presented the budget of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee for 2013, which is estimated at approximately R$ 100 million.

"The budget for the next four years is more than we had originally estimated,” Parsons said. “This will help us in our attempt to finish in fifth place in the medal standing at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games."

In his first term (2009-2013), the budget for Paralympic sports was R$ 175 million, almost R$ 44 million a year. In the previous cycle, from 2005-2008, the total budget was R$77 million. This increase has been the result of partnerships with the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Sports, the Sao Paulo state government, the city of Rio de Janeiro and sponsors Caixa Economica Federal and Infraero.

Another major achievement was the number of podium finishes at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. From Beijing 2008 to London 2012, Brazil jumped from ninth to seventh place in the medal standings with 21 gold medals compared to 16 medals.