Following outrage from the sports community, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) reversed a Wednesday decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing.
“The war has now come to these Games, and behind the scenes many governments are having an influence on our cherished event,” IPC President Andrew Parsons said Thursday according to ESPN. “We were trying to protect the Games from war.”
Parson said delegations threatened to boycott the games if Russia and Belarus were allowed to participate.
“In the last 12 hours an overwhelming number of members have been in touch with us and been very open, for which I am grateful,” Parsons said. “They have told us that if we do not reconsider our decision, it is now likely to have grave consequences for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. Multiple NPCs, some of which have been contacted by their governments, teams and athletes, are threatening not to compete.ll boycott, will not participate.”
The sudden reversal comes just one day after the IPC announced that athletes from both Russia and Belarus would be allowed to compete as neutrals in the March games in Beijing.
“The RPC and NPC Belarus will participate as neutrals at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games,” the IPC said in a statement on Wednesday. “They will compete under the Paralympic flag and not be included in the medal table. IPC to host extraordinary General Assembly in 2022 to vote on whether to make compliance with the Olympic Truce a membership requirement and whether to suspend or terminate the membership of the Russian Paralympic Committee and Belarus Paralympic Committee IPC will not hold any events in Russia or Belarus until further notice.”
Ukrainian athletes immediately ripped the decision, saying that Russia and Belarus will use the athletes as an opportunity to spread “state propaganda.”
“As Russian and Belarusian bombs rain down on the Ukrainian citizens, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) today issued another blow to every Ukrainian athlete and citizen by allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games,” the Athletes of Ukraine and Global Athlete said in a joint statement.
“The IPC claims they are acting by forcing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under a neutral flag,” the statement continued. “But the Russian flag was already prohibited from the Paralympics as punishment for a decade of state-sponsored doping and data manipulation.”
“With or without a neutral label, Russian and Belarusian authorities will use their athletes’ participation in these Games as state propaganda,” they added.
Joint statement from Ukrainian Athletes and Global Athlete in reaction to the #IPC's decision to allow Russia and Belarus to compete at the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Games. @Beijing2022 @heraskevych pic.twitter.com/ZqQH6WHExs
— Global Athlete (@GlobalAthleteHQ) March 2, 2022
Wednesday’s decision by the IPC to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete went against the International Olympics Committee’s recommendation that “International Sports Federations and sports event organisers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions.”
Parsons says the Olympic committee’s from Russia and Belarus may take legal action after he sent home 71 Russian and 12 Belarusian athletes from the games.
“We do believe that the Russian Paralympic Committee and the Belarusian Paralympic Committee may take legal action,” Parsons said. “But the facts that we express here led us to understand that this was the right decision to be taking.”
The 2022 Paralympic Games begin Friday, March 4.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].