The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) issued a statement following the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games announcement that the Ice Sledge Hockey competitions will be moved to the UBC Winter Sports Centre in Vancouver.
Also Wheelchair Curling is being moved to Hillcrest/Nat Bailey Stadium Park in Vancouver.
In the statement the IPC said it “remains of the conviction that the concept of compact Games in Whistler included in the Vancouver 2010 bid was still the best one, but acknowledges that VANOC and its partners have arrived to the conclusion that this compact concept is not a sustainable option”.
The IPC is requesting that Vancouver 2010 develop an alternative concept which it said should address the full impact of these changes, and which will need to be presented for approval to the IPC Governing Board at its meeting in Kuala Lumpur November 23 to 25.
IPC CEO Xavier Gonzales said, “in the process of the organization of Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, situations like this may arise but we are confident that the Organizing Committee, as VANOC CEO John Furlong has said, will deliver a new good concept with viable options. We are looking forward to working with VANOC to make the overall experience of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games a great success”.
