Mexico City, Nov 18 (IANS): The Badminton World Federation has become a member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) at its 17th General Assembly here.

BWF president Poul-Erik Høyer and BWF chair - Para-Badminton Paul Kurzo attended the two-day meeting last weekend. This latest move further cements ties between BWF and the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement and follows last year's historic inclusion of para-badminton on the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics sports programme.

"We are pleased to be admitted to membership of the IPC. It is an important step in serving our athletes with impairments and we look forward to a strong and wonderful relationship with IPC and working together for the betterment of para-sports in general and para-badminton in particular," Høyer said in a statement on Wednesday.

Prior to Sunday's formal vote by the General Assembly, BWF was a provisional IPC member. Three other international federations were also accorded IPC membership -- the World Taekwondo Federation, the International Sailing Federation and the International Federation of CP (Cerebral Palsy) Football. In total, nine new organisations were approved for membership; the other five being National Paralympic Committees (NPCs).

The IPC Governing Board also approved the venues for 19 of the 22 Paralympic sports at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, including para-badminton which will share Yoyogi National Stadium with wheelchair rugby.