Although "much of the publicity relating to the South African participation had been negative, it did succeed in bringing the disabled sports movement into the minds of many people who would not have otherwise considered the subject at all.

Dutch organisers also increased visibility through their fundraising ... building a fund that would hold a surplus years after the games.

This would naturally find its expression in the International Fund Sport Disabled, supporting the future of the paralympic movement in the 1980s.

[7] Prior to the Games, the States General (national Parliament) of the Netherlands, as host country, adopted a motion declaring South Africa's participation "undesirable", due to its policy of apartheid.

The Netherlands' decision thus corrected the anomaly whereby South Africa had been banned from the Olympic movement since 1960, while still being authorised to take part in the Paralympic Games.