Global Courant
The 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris start on August 28 and end on September 8
Para-athletes from Russia will be allowed to compete in the Paralympic Games next year after officials voted against a complete ban.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) will hold a second vote on whether the competitors can do so under the Russian flag, or as neutral athletes.
Russia has been banned from participating in the Paralympic Games after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Games start in Paris on August 28.
In a statement on Friday, the IPC said its members had voted 74 to 65 (with 13 abstentions) against a motion to completely suspend the Russian National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for “violating its constitutional membership obligations.”
The IPC’s decision comes two weeks before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meets to discuss the participation of Russia and Belarus in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Belarusian athletes and para-athletes have also been banned from competition due to the country’s support for the war in Ukraine.
Competitors from both countries were not allowed to participate as neutral participants in the Beijing Winter Paralympics in March 2022, after the IPC was criticized for initially saying they could.
Andrew Parsons, chairman of the IPC, said the organization “strongly believes that sport and politics should not mix”.
In May 2023, an appeal by Russia and Belarus against their bans was accepted by the IPC, but they remain banned from world championships.
However, Russian para-athletes were allowed to compete under a neutral flag at the Covid-postponed 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, using the initials of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC).
