Wheelchair basketball

Events & Disciplines

Men’s 12-team and women’s 10-team tournaments: teams are drawn into two pools and the four highest placed teams in each group progress to the quarter-finals

Classification

Who is eligible for Wheelchair Basketball? Athletes with a physical impairment that impacts upon their lower limbs, such as spinal cord or nerve damage, limb loss or limb deficiency (above or below knee), cerebral palsy or other similar impairment.

What are the classes? Athletes are classified into one of 8 classes depending on their functional ability. Classes range from 1.0 – 4.5 points.

• Classification Information Sheet – Wheelchair Basketball PDF

How do I get a classification? Request a classification using the Get classified form.

Rules & Equipment

Court

The field of play intended for wheelchair basketball matches has no differences compared to that of Olympic basketball. It is a rectangular hard surface 28 metres long and 15 metres wide. For official national and international matches, a wooden floor is required.

Ball

The ball must be an approved single shade of orange with eight traditionally shaped panels and black seams. The outer surface is made of leather, synthetic leather, rubber or synthetic material. The ball may have a circumference of 74.9 to 78cm and weight between 567 to 650gr.

Wheelchair

The wheelchair is considered to be part of the player. It has either three or four wheels – i.e. two large wheels at the back and one or two small wheels at the front of the chair. The wheelchair may also have one or two anti-tip devices utilising no more than a total of two small castors attached to either the frame or the rear axle and located at the rear of the wheelchair. The tyres may be of any colour as long as they do not mark the floor. All competition chairs must meet the specifications set by the IWBF.

Medal History