Russian athletes will probably be at the Paralympics after all

Despite the war of aggression in Ukraine, Russian athletes will probably be able to take part in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

September 30, 2023

From: apa/sn

During the members' and general assembly in the Gulf state of Bahrain, the member associations of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) somewhat surprisingly decided on Friday to lift Russia's complete exclusion.

74 associations voted against the complete exclusion, 65 voted for it and 13 abstained. In the second vote, the vote was 90:56 with six abstentions and was clearly in favor of starting under a neutral flag. The decision on the athletes from Belarus who are currently also excluded will follow separately. A vote to maintain the complete exclusion would probably have meant the end of the Paralympics, regardless of when the war might end, as the Russian athletes would have had hardly any qualification options left.

Mayor doesn't want Russians and Belarusians

The Paralympics in Paris will take place next year from August 28th to September 8th. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, had said she did not want to host Russian and Belarusian athletes if the war was still ongoing.

Schlagwörter: Paralympics Bahrain