The Russian and Belarusian athletes will finally be excluded from the Paralympic Games Beijing Winter Games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced Thursday, on the eve of the opening of the competition.
Seized following the Russian invasion in Ukraine in which Belarus is collaborating, the IPC announced on Wednesday that these athletes might participate in the Games under a neutral banner, a decision which had been contested in several countries.
In a 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”.
