The Paralympics were embroiled in a row today after being accused of banning athletes with learning disabilities from the Games.
Disabled campaign group Mencap has branded the decision "blatant discrimination" and has joined the fight to get athletes with an intellectual impairment reinstated.
The ban was introduced when two undercover journalists, who falsely claimed to have a learning disability, infiltrated the Spanish basketball squad at the Sydney Games in 2000, led the team to a gold medal, and revealed their deception.
Jo Williams, chief executive of Mencap, said: "We are very angry that athletes with learning disabilities are now excluded from the Paralympic Games. These athletes have trained long and hard to reach the peak of their sporting ability and to compete against disabled athletes from around the world.
"But they have had their Olympic dream snatched away from them through no fault of their own. For disabled people not to be able to participate in the Paralympics is blatant discrimination.
The Athens Paralympics begin on September 19th and will see 4,000 athletes from 145 nations travel to Greece to compete in 19 sports.
The row has been brewing for four years as the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and representatives of athletes with learning disabilities have been trying to agree on a way of testing and classifying athletes with a learning disability.
In November the IPC will be holding a meeting in Cairo, which could see these athletes banned permanently.