BERLIN (Reuters) – Brazilian Andrew Parson was elected president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on Friday , succeeding Philip Craven, who had headed the organization since 2001.

Parsons won the vote at the IPC general assembly in Abu Dhabi, in the first round with an absolute majority of 84 from the 162 voting members, beating three other candidates. Craven was not a candidate.

The IPC, the global governing body of the paralympic movement, organizes summer and winter paralympics, staged immediately after the Olympics in the same host city, and supervises and coordinates world championships and other competitions.