Russian and Belarusian athletes will be banned from the Beijing Winter Paralympics after the International Paralympic Committee reversed its original decision.
The IPC’s announcement on Wednesday that athletes from those countries would be allowed to compete under a neutral flag was met by criticism and the threat of a boycott.
IPC president Andrew Parsons said 83 athletes would now be unable to compete, but the decision was taken because of the threat of widespread withdrawals from other countries as well as concerns about safety.
The situation in the athletes village, Parsons said, had “become untenable”.
The IPC Governing Board has decided to refuse the athlete entries from the RPC and NPC Belarus for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. https://t.co/8rE0szi8YE
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) March 3, 2022
Latest Beijing Winter Paralympics update
In a statement on Thursday morning, Mr Parsons said: “In taking our decision yesterday, we were looking at the long-term health and survival of the Paralympic Movement. We are fiercely proud of the principles and values that have made the Movement what it is today.
“However, what is clear is that the rapidly escalating situation has now put us in a unique and impossible position so close to the start of the Games. Yesterday we said we would continue to listen, and that is what we are doing.
“In the last 12 hours, an overwhelming number of members have been in touch with us and been very open, for which I am grateful. They have told us that, if we do not reconsider our decision, it is now likely to have grave consequences for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
“Multiple NPCs (National Paralympic Committees), some of which have been contacted by their governments, teams and athletes, are threatening not to compete.
“Ensuring the safety and security of athletes is of paramount importance to us and the situation in the athlete villages is escalating and has now become untenable.”
Parsons apologised to athletes from Russia and Belarus, saying: “First and foremost, we have a duty as part of the Paralympic mission, enshrined in the constitution, to guarantee and supervise the organisation of successful Paralympic Games, to ensure that, in sport practised within the Paralympic Movement, the spirit of fair play prevails, violence is banned, the health risk of the athletes is managed and fundamental ethical principles are upheld.
“With this in mind, and in order to preserve the integrity of these Games and the safety of all participants, we have decided to refuse the athlete entries from RPC (Russian Paralympic Committee) and NPC Belarus.
“To the Para athletes from the impacted countries, we are very sorry that you are affected by the decisions your governments took last week in breaching the Olympic Truce. You are victims of your governments’ actions.
“I hope and pray that we can get back to a situation when the talk and focus is fully on the power of sport to transform the lives of persons with disabilities, and the best of humanity.”
I'll be discussing the international sporting response and further measures we can take to isolate the Russian regime with my international counterparts later today. (3/3)
— Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) March 3, 2022
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who had criticised the initial decision, tweeted on Thursday morning: “Very pleased that the IPC has now come to the right decision, and answered our call to ban Russian and Belarus athletes in response to Putin’s barbaric, senseless invasion.
“The welfare of all the other competing athletes is of upmost importance and we’re pleased the IPC also recognise that. The whole country will be fully behind our ParalympicsGB team at the Games.
“I’ll be discussing the international sporting response and further measures we can take to isolate the Russian regime with my international counterparts later today.”
The BPA had reiterated its view on Wednesday that allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete was not “compatible with the objectives of the Paralympic movement”.
IPC president Parsons said on Wednesday that any decision to suspend the Russian and Belarusian Paralympic Committees would have been overturned under German law, which governs the actions of the international federation.
However, the sheer weight of pressure from other NPCs threatening to boycott has now forced a change of approach.
The International Olympic Committee’s executive board recommended international sports federations and event organisers should exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes, teams and officials “wherever possible”.
Where this was not possible, the IOC board suggested such athletes compete as neutrals.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here