Organised under the guidance of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF), they were known as the 21st International Stoke Mandeville Games at the time.

[1] The games ended 15 days before the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, also in West Germany.

As with previous Paralympics, the 1972 games were intended for wheelchair athletes only.

Bahamas, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Hong Kong, Hungary, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Romania, Uganda and Yugoslavia competed for the first time.

Its invitation to take part in the 1972 Summer Olympics was withdrawn by the International Olympic Committee four days before the opening ceremony, in response to African countries' protests against the Rhodesian government.