The updated standards, which detail technical and operational requirements for classification for the newest version of the IPC’s Athlete Classification Code, feature a number of revisions following input from various stakeholders.

"The IPC is committed to ensuring that the Code and Standards are as clear and relevant as possible, to ensure the best possible experience of classification for Para athletes," IPC medical and scientific director Peter Van de Vliet said.

"The IPC considered feedback from International Federations, National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) and legal experts and believe that the Standards are now much clearer and more concise.

"This will enable all Para-sports to take their own classification standards, processes and procedures to a higher level."

The news comes following mounting fears in the build-up to the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro over whether athletes had been intentionally misclassified to allow them to gain an advantage.

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Britain's 11-time Paralympic gold medallist on the track, reportedly expressed her concerns that athletes have gained a competitive advantage due to being mismatched against their opponents to UK Sport, the British Paralympic Association and UK Athletics.

In August, the IPC uncovered "no sufficient evidence" of intentional misrepresentation in swimming after they conducted a "thorough examination" of 16 cases.

Discrepancies in performances of swimmers, who had been found to be racing slower when they were being observed for classification compared with competition, were investigated by the IPC.

It came after they issued an advisory to all NPCs in August 2015, warning against the danger of intentional misrepresentation - where an athlete attempts to cheat the system by gaining a more favourable classification.

"I would like to thank everyone from across the Movement who contributed to these new International Standards," IPC Classification Committee chair Anne Hart said.

"I believe we can expect the clarity provided in the new wording to help everyone involved with athlete classification to understand exactly what is required.

"Crucially this will ensure that athletes are placed at the centre of a fair and transparent process that will strengthen this unique process further."

The 2015 Athlete Classification Code comes into effect on January 1.

A meeting of the IPC Classification Committee to "further detail Code compliance criteria and models of best practice under the new Code" is due to be held next month".