The worldwide governing body for the sport are now inviting expressions of interest from those who may wish to stage next year’s event, wheelchair dance sport’s flagship biennial competition.

The announcement comes at what the IPC claim is an exciting time for the sport, which has recently expanded into Asia and has seen a number of changes to the programme at its events, including adding singles and freestyle competitions.

It follows the success of the 2015 World Championships, held in 2024 Olympic and Paralympic candidate city Rome and comes ahead of an IPC Wheelchair Dance Workshop, which is due to be staged in Mexico City on Sunday (February 7).

“Wheelchair dance sport is growing in profile and popularity all the time,” IPC chief executive Xavier Gonzalez said.

“The 2017 edition will follow the 2015 World Championships in Rome which attracted interest from fans and media around the world and raised the bar for the organisation of major international events.

“There were dancers from new countries in Latin America and in recent years we have seen the sport’s profile grow with competitions in places such as China and Japan.

“Hosting a World Championships is not only an opportunity to be part of an exciting future, but afterwards to be remembered as a key milestone in history.”

In 2016, the first-ever Asian Championships are due to be held, with a venue and date still to be announced.

The new season is due to begin with the Kazakhstan Open in Astana from April 9 to 10.

The 2013 World Championships were held in Tokyo and attracted over 150 athletes from 20 countries.

That competition led to the addition of the very first Asian Pacific Cup in Beijing in 2014, and another competition in Astana.

Around 160 competitors attended the 2015 World Championships in Rome, where 14 medals were on offer across the two classes, class one and two.

Countries interested in the 2017 event can express an interest by clicking here.