The FISDIR, Federazione Italiana Sport Paralimpici degli Intellettivo Relazionali, is the Paralympic Sports Federation to which the CIP (Italian Paralympic Committee) has entrusted the management, organization and development of sports activities for athletes with intellectual and relational disabilities.
The CIP, which was recognized in 2017 as a Public Entity, on a par with CONI for Olympic sports, has the task of ensuring the maximum dissemination of the Paralympic idea and the most profitable start to the practice of sports for people with disabilities. It is therefore responsible for regulating and managing all sports activities reserved for physically, intellectually and sensory disabled athletes.
To date, the CIP recognizes more than forty sports entities, including Paralympic federations, Paralympic disciplines, Paralympic promotion bodies and Paralympic benevolent associations. Among the Paralympic Sports Federations is the activity of the Italian Federation of Relational Intellectual Paralympic Sports.
It was established on February 22, 2009 with the final transformation of CIP Department 9 into a Paralympic Sports Federation. From 2009 to 2017, the acronym FISDIR stood for Federazione Italiana Sport Disabilità Intellettiva Relazionale (Italian Federation for the Sport of Relational Intellectual Disabilities), a name changed by the last extraordinary assembly, which expressed a desire to emphasize the value of the word paralympic, reflecting the clear affiliation with the Paralympic sports world managed by the Italian Paralympic Committee.
2009 – 2013: Marco Borzacchini
2013 – 2017: Marco Borzacchini
2017 – 2020: Marco Borzacchini
2020 – today: Marco Borzacchini
The cardinal principles of FISDIR’s action are threefold:
A “normalized” sports practice that provides opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities to compare themselves within a predominantly sports framework.
An activity that incorporates the technical regulations proper to the disciplines with minimal adaptations arising from the specific needs of the athletes.
Sport must promote the complete autonomy of the athlete, a prerequisite for real integration into the sporting world of the “able-bodied.”
The philosophy that accompanies its action therefore is based on the concept of “normalized sports practice” in the belief that sport improves the quality of life and is able to enhance individual abilities if practiced in an accomplished form, that is, according to its own rules.
On the other hand, people with intellectual and relational disabilities are full members of society and as such should be subject to the same rights, opportunities and rules as others. They are not “special” people. , but only have specific needs.
Real inclusion in sports of the “able-bodied” is in fact possible only and only if the athlete with intellectual disabilities is able to independently comply with the canons of the discipline he or she practices.
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
