On Friday 24^th October, the 2025 World Abilitysport General Assembly was held in the city of Mersin, Türkiye. While the final day of competition played out at the inaugural Beach Games along Mersin’s picturesque coastline, 15 members were represented in person while another 17 joined the Assembly remotely.

The Assembly ratified 11 new membership applications including the National Paralympic Committee of Uzbekistan and Ability Sport Kenya who were both welcomed in person at the Assembly.

Decisions later turned to the partial suspension of NPC Belarus and the Russian Federation of Sports for Persons with Physical Impairments which saw the decisions made in 2023 extended for a further two years. Russian and Belarussian athletes will therefore continue to compete under Neutral Para Athlete (NPA) conditions.

The three governed sports of World Abilitysport, World Para Fencing, World Para Dance Sport and International Powerchair Hockey also presented their sport overviews including classification milestones, competition calendars and future development plans.

Head of Sport, Harry Cootes, provided the Assembly with a debrief of the Games held since the membership’s last gathering in 2023 and furnished them with the exciting catalogue of Games to come in the next three years.

Next the Assembly’s attention turned to the election of Governing Board members. Presentations were received from all four candidates, Murat Aksu (TUR), Marc Vergauwen (BEL), Rajesh Tomar (IND) as well as Yu Chui Yee (HKG) who joined the  Assembly remotely.

Members were informed that due to the resignation of two members, up to four new Governing Board members could be elected should they receive over 50%+1 of votes. CEO, Charmaine Hooper delivered the news that all four candidates had received significantly over 50% of the votes and were welcomed to the Board to applause and congratulations from the Assembly.

Rudi Van den Abbeele said, ‘I am delighted to welcome all four new Board members to the World Abilitysport family. They have such a wide range of skills and a breadth of experience within the Paralympic Movement, I am excited for the contributions I have no doubt they will bring over the coming four-year term. Congratulations and a warm welcome to them all!’

Host of the General Assembly, President of NPC Türkiye and newly appointed Governing Board member, Dr Murat Asku said, ‘It was a pleasure to welcome the membership of World Abilitysport to the beautiful city of Mersin for this important Assembly. I was delighted to also be elected to the Governing Board and look forward to being a valuable asset to the organisation over the length of my term.’

The General Assembly was closed and the delegates were invited to watch the Beach ParaVolley final between Poland and Latvia on the picturesque Pompei Beach.