MANAMA: Russian and Belarusian Paralympic athletes will be allowed to compete in the Paralympics to be held in Paris in 2024 after officials voted against a full ban on Friday, Western media reported.
A majority of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) members voted against a complete ban at the organization’s meeting in Manama, Bahrain.
IPC members voted 74-65 against a motion to fully suspend NPC (National Paralympic Committee) Russia for violating its constitutional membership obligations. 13 members of the IPC abstained in the voting process.
At the IPC General Assembly in Bahrain, IPC members voted 74-65 (13 abstentions) against a motion to fully suspend NPC Russia for breaches of its constitutional membership obligations. After lunch members will discuss a motion to partially suspend the NPC.
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After Russia started a war with Ukraine in February 2022, the IPC banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from taking part in international competitions, while it also suspended both Paralympic committees of the two countries.
As a result, Paralympic athletes from Russia and Belarus could not take part in the Winter Paralympics in Beijing in March 2022.
In Friday’s voting process, 74 IPC members voted against the complete ban on Russia and Belarus for violation of their constitutional compulsions as members.
The United Nations has so far recorded 9,000 civilian deaths since the beginning of the war, including 500 children.
