by Karolos Grohmann
(Reuters) – Russian athletes will be allowed to participate in the next 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris under a neutral banner, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced on Friday, which has positioned itself against a complete ban on Russia.
IPC members voted 74 to 65 against complete exclusion from the Russian Paralympic Committee and then voted 90 to 56 in favor of a two-year suspension.
“Following the General Assembly’s decision, Russia’s membership rights are suspended for two years,” the ICP said in a statement.
“With the exception that its athletes (and associated support staff) will be able to participate in an individual and neutral capacity in the Paralympic Games, world and regional championships and official competitions in the six sports for which the ICP acts in as an international federation.”
Athletes competing under a neutral banner participate without a national team, emblems, flags and anthems.
The ICP also decided not to suspend Belarus, Moscow’s ally whose territory was used to launch the Russian offensive against Ukraine.
This decision comes two weeks before the meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Bombay, India, where the participation of Russia and Belarus in the Paris Games next year will also be discussed.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Blandine Hénault for the French version, edited by Bertrand Boucey)
©2023 Thomson Reuters, all rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Reuters” and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.