Russia and Belarus finally excluded from the Paralympic Games

The International Paralympic Committee had initially accepted to make compete the parasportives under neutral banner. But this has just changed

This Thursday, March 3 the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), on the eve of the opening of the competition in China announced that the Russian and Belarussian parasporters will finally be excluded from the Paralympic Winter Games of Beijing.

In a statement, the IPC explains this change: “teams and athletes are now threatening not to participate, jeopardizing the chances of success of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games”.

Andrew Parsons, IPC President, said: “At the IPC we are very firm believers that sport and politics should not mix. However, by no fault of its own the war has now come to these Games and behind the scenes many Governments are having an influence on our cherished event.

“The IPC is a membership-based organisation, and we are receptive to the views of our member organisations.