Tensions between the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee have increased since IOC officials withdrew the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games contract for signing by host city Pyeongchang back in July, after the South Korean city successfully won the right to host the Winter Olympics at the IOC session in Durban.

According to South Korean IPC board member Hyang-Sook Jang said “We might not see a Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang in 2018,”

Usually the host city agreements for both the Olympics and Paralympics are signed with the winning bid committees immediately after the announcement of the winner, but this time only the Olympic Games contract was signed. Technically this means the Paralympic Games are only assured for London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016.

However in Durban, the IOC and the IPC had not reached a formal co-operation agreement with the sticking point surrounding complex negotiations about marketing, broadcasting and commercial aspects of the Paralympics resulting in negotiations between still dragging on.

This week there has been a series of meetings between high level IOC members and the IPC president Sir Philip Craven in Lausanne to find a compromise position.

The IOC contributes around £1.26m ($2 million) a year to help fund the Paralympics Movement and it is understood to have offered to increase the annual subsidy by 50 per cent.

In return the IOC wants a greater say in the staging of the Paralympics. The idea is for the IOC to effectively manage the Paralympic Games immediately after the Olympics and allow the IPC to focus on developing and nurturing the paralympian athlete pathways. Essentially the IPC would be contracting to the IOC their best para-athletes for the Paralympics. IPC spoksman Craig Spencer said: "We have had two really positive meetings and we are confident we will get some sort of agreement settled soon. It will be sorted.'" While the Paralympics has increasingly won the hearts of host nations, the movement struggles to pay its own way.

The Paralympic component of the 2012 London Olympics is funded by more than £80 million directly from the taxpayer, but the real costs are much greater. The London operating budget is a combined Olympic and Paralympic budget of £2.15 billion.

An IOC spokesman confirmed that negotiations between the two parties have been taking place and that the ''talks have been constructive''.

Source: The Telegraph