The event will be held at the Principality Stadium
THE Wheelchair Rugby European Championships will be held in Cardiff.
The eight-team event will be held in the Principality Stadium from 3-7 May 2023, and will act as a qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Richard Allcroft, President of World Wheelchair Rugby, said: “I have no doubt that the Welsh community will welcome us and support an exciting event.
“I look forward to seeing how the event grows over the next 18 months.”
Jim Roberts, a GBWR gold medallist from Welshpool said: “What a time for wheelchair rugby. To showcase such a major event in my home country is just fantastic and I have no doubt that this is going to be brilliant for the sport I’ve spent so much time involved with.
“I don’t believe there is anywhere more passionate about rugby than Wales and our world class stadium will showcase wheelchair rugby at its very best.
“I am passionate about promoting the game and will be fully behind the community engagement planned as we aim to leave a true and lasting legacy in Wales.”
Great Britain enjoys unprecedented success in Wheelchair Rugby having won the last three consecutive European Championships.
Paul Sullivan, 48, from Penylan, who worked on a previous Wheelchair Rugby event, said: “It’s fantastic for the city and everyone involved in parasport and inclusivity in Wales.
“To see this level of competition, which would grace any nation, coming to Wales and to Cardiff swells me with pride.
I can’t recommend attending this event enough, the intensity and physicality is second to none, and the skill level of the very best is breath-taking.”
Vicki Spencer from Monmouthshire added: “I think it’s a fantastic accolade for our country to host any world championships. Wheelchair rugby isn’t for the faint hearted and we have many brilliant wheelchair rugby teams in Wales so we should keep our fingers crossed for success.”
The championships will be supported with grants from UK Sport, Welsh Government and GB Wheelchair Rugby, and with partner support from WRU, Cardiff City Council and Disability Sport Wales.
A World Wheelchair Rugby statement said: “The WRU and the Principality Stadium have been at the forefront of supporting the championship coming to Wales and being staged in the home of Welsh rugby.
“The stadium will give athletes an opportunity to perform in a venue which reflects their world standing as elite athletes in front of a passionate rugby-loving crowd!”
