A change of course and a twist before the Paralympic Games in Beijing, which open on Friday!
Russian and Belarusian athletes will ultimately be excluded from the Paralympic Winter Games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced on Thursday, on the eve of the opening of the competition.
The registrations of these athletes will be refused, the institution said in a press release, after a meeting of the board of directors.
"The situation in the athletes' village is deteriorating"
In this press release, the IPC justified its reversal by the fact that “teams and athletes are now threatening not to participate, compromising the chances of success of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games”.
"The situation in the athletes' village is deteriorating and guaranteeing their safety has become impossible," added the Committee, on the eve of the opening ceremony of the Games, which take place in the Chinese capital until March 13.
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
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accused Russia of breaking the Olympic truce.
He had urged the federations on Monday to ban Russians but also Belarusians from all competitions.
In all sports, or almost, Russia, for example excluded from the Football World Cup, is thus gradually sidelined.
On Wednesday, the IPC had however announced on Wednesday that Russian and Belarusian athletes could participate in the Games under a neutral banner, a decision which had been contested in several countries.
A bit like the international football federation, Fifa, first announced that the Russian national team would not be excluded from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but that it only had to play its qualifying play-offs on neutral ground and without a national anthem.
Before, in front of the almost unanimous reactions to his lack of courage and the firm position of the IOC, to harden his position and exclude the Russian teams from all international competition.