Russian, Belarusian Paralympic athletes allowed to compete under neutral status

Russian and Belarusian Paralympic athletes are allowed to compete under neutral status says IPC.

With the International Sports Committee banning all Russian and Belarusian athletes from international tournaments after Russia invades Ukraine, the International Paralympic Committee said that the two countries would be able to compete under the Paralympic flag and not be included in the medal table, as under the neutral status adopted.

The Russian Paralympic athletes had previously competed under the neutral status at the 2018 games as a punishment for state-sponsored doping. Andrew Parsons, the president of IPC said that it was the ‘harshest possible punishment’ under the constitution.

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“The IPC and wider Paralympic movement are greatly concerned by the gross violation of the Olympic truce by the Russian and Belarusian government in the days before the Beijing 2022 paralympic winter games”, he added. He admitted that the new constitutional framework would only aid them in taking politically neutral decisions.

 

But the UK Secretary of State, Nadine Dorries said that she was greatly against the decision and extremely disappointed with IPC’s decision. “I call on them to urgently reconsider as they must join the rest of the world in condemning the barbaric invasion by banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing”, she added. International federations and associations have come forward in cancelling representation, events, sponsorships etc., from the Russian end and has sworn to bring the ongoing horror to an end.

The opening ceremony of the event is scheduled on Friday, with an opening message of promotion of ‘message of peace. “The eyes of the world will be watching the Paralympic Winter Games in the coming days and it is vital we show the world leader through our sport that we can unite as human beings and that our true power is found when promoting peace, understanding and inclusion”, Parsons said according to BBC Sport.