The broadcast rights for the 2011 BT Paralympic World Cup, the largest annual international multi-sport competition in elite disability sport, have been awarded to Channel 4 who controversially claimed the rights to show the London 2012 Paralympics off the BBC despite the latter having shown every Paralympics since the Arnhem 1980 Games and invested several million pounds into promoting disability sport.

It was coup for Channel 4, who last year also beat the BBC to the rights to this year's World Athletics Championships in Daegu in South Korea, but Sir Philip has stated that the BBC's long-time commitment to the Paralympics will never be taken for granted.

"It is absolutely crucial that the contribution of the BBC to the Paralympics is not forgotten and rest assured that it won't be," Sir Philip told insideworldparasport here at the Otto Bock Science Centre for Medical Technology here in the German capital.

Otto Bock being one of two Paralympic-only sponsors for London 2012, alongside Sainsbury's.

"The BBC has been huge supporters of the Paralympics for so long and I have many good friends there," said Sir Philip. 

"I was so excited when Channel 4 won the rights to host the London 2012 Paralympics and also the BT Paralympic World Cup earlier this week as I know they will be able to take Paralympic sport in Britain to another level with their innovative ideas.

"But at the same time, I really felt for the BBC when the decision went against them as they have given so much to the Paralympics for so long.

"Let's not forget though that the BBC will still play a major role in covering the London 2012 Paralympics.

"It was fantastic to see that they were awarded the radio rights for the competition so that connection will remain.

"Channel 4 has been so enthusiastic about covering Paralympic sport as much as they can and I'm very, very pleased to see how much they have been doing on it and the high quality of their Paralympic programming.

"But no one can deny, nor will they forget, that the BBC were the ground breakers in Paralympic sport."

Chris Holmes (pictured), the London 2012 Director of Paralympic Integration who was also in attendance at the Otto Bock Science Centre for Medical Technology, echoed Sir Philip's comments.

"Channel 4 is a world class broadcaster and we have already seen through programmes such as 'Inside Incredible Athletes' and 'That Paralympic Show' how good their coverage of Paralympic sport will be," Holmes told insideworldparasport.

"They have committed to showing a record amount of Paralympic sport leading up to and including London 2012 so we at London 2012 are delighted to have them as a partner.

"But it is the BBC who are the pioneers of Paralympic sport in Britain and it is they who set the platform for the likes of Channel 4 to take things to the next level.

"They are still heavily involved in the London 2012 Paralympics with BBC Radio 5 live and its sister station 5 live sports extra set to cover the Games and it is fantastic for us to have both the BBC and Channel 4 on board."

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