Mind games: what is behind the admission of Russian Paralympians

On September 27, the General Assembly of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) lifted sanctions against Russian sports during a meeting in Seoul. During the decisive vote, 91 members of the organization voted for the restoration of the rights of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) with 77 votes against and eight abstentions. This will allow our athletes to perform with the flag and anthem at all major tournaments and, most importantly, at the Paralympics, including the upcoming Winter Games in Milan. The main result of the General Assembly in Seoul is the first major victory over the anti—Russian lobby in international sports structures.

The thorny path

Now Russian Paralympians will be able to participate with a flag and other national attributes in the Paralympic Games and competitions in sports supervised by the IPC. These are athletics, swimming, powerlifting, sledge hockey and bullet shooting. Sanctions in all other disciplines will have to be lifted through international federations, most of which still insist on allowing Russians in a neutral status.

Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev noted that this precedent will become a guideline for the IOC and other international federations.

"The decision of the General Assembly of the International Paralympic Committee to restore the status of the Russian Paralympic Committee is an important step towards the full restoration of the rights of our athletes in the international sports arena," he said. — Now our Paralympians will be able to compete under the Russian flag and with the national anthem in the disciplines supervised by the IPC. Congratulations to our entire sports community — this is the result of a lot of work. I am convinced that this precedent will become a guideline for the IOC and other international federations, which will be more accommodating.

Despite the complete lifting of restrictions, our athletes at the World Athletics Championships, which are currently taking place in India, will compete only individually and in a neutral status, without a flag and anthem.

— As a justification, the World Para-Sports Federation refers to the fact that athletes and support staff were allowed to participate in these competitions in accordance with the Regulations of neutral countries, and, given this, it will be almost impossible to make all necessary changes to the protocol, including flags, anthems, uniforms, names and designations, medal table, etc. This is unfair and violates the rights of Russian athletes," the statement said.

Our Paralympians have had to go through a very long and thorny path to return to the world stage today. Despite the apparent unfairness of the political restrictions on athletes with disabilities, Russian representatives have been subject to various sanctions since 2016. So, against the background of the doping scandal, they were banned from competing at the Rio Paralympics, and in the future, admission to competitions was artificially difficult even under a neutral flag. But these were just flowers compared to what happened in 2022.

Just before the start of the Winter Games in Beijing, the IPC first decided to open the competition to Russians and Belarusians, but literally a day later, under pressure from the Western lobby, it changed its mind. The reason was called wild — supposedly there could be fights between our and Ukrainian athletes in the Paralympic village. In the fall of 2022, the IPC General Assembly suspended Russia's membership, but after an appeal in May 2023, this decision was annulled. But our country's opponents did not calm down — in September, the PKR was nevertheless deprived of recognition for two years "due to its inability to fulfill its membership obligations in accordance with the charter." At the same time, our athletes have been given the right to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in a neutral status and only in those sports that are supervised by the IPC or where international federations do not object.

Among the claims that were made against the PKK was the support of veterans of its military, although the Paralympic movement was originally created as a project for the social rehabilitation of people affected by armed conflicts.

The slow process

Fortunately, prudence has now prevailed, although by and large the voting patterns have not changed in two years. The anti-Russian lobby in the IPC still accounts for more than 70 votes. But at the IPC General Assembly in Seoul, he was dealt a serious blow. The return of the Russian Paralympians to the big starts is a landmark moment. Despite possible difficulties with visas and organizers of specific competitions.

"I met this news with great joy," Mikhail Terentyev, a State Duma deputy and Paralympic champion, told Izvestia. — This is a significant progress towards the development of our Paralympic movement. We are waiting for decisions on the participation of our athletes in the upcoming competitions. Congratulations to the Russian Paralympic Committee and Pavel Rozhkov (President of the Russian Olympic Committee). — Ed.), they have done a lot of diplomatic work. The committee has strong legal and international departments that have achieved such results. I hope this will allow us to speak about the immutability of the course towards the restoration of our team. I am sure that the IOC will also pay attention to this precedent.

So far, sanctions against athletes from Russia have been completely lifted only in a few non-Olympic and chamber sports (bodybuilding, IBA boxing, wakesurfing, arm wrestling, padel, draughts-64, small towns, and so on). Now the IPC disciplines have been added to this list. In addition, a number of international federations, without canceling their neutral status, are gradually lifting restrictions on Russian performance in team and collective disciplines. So, in January of this year, the FIDE Council allowed Russian national teams consisting of neutral athletes under the age of 18 and people with disabilities to participate in major chess tournaments. The women's national team will play at the 2025 World Cup in Linares. That is, the process is underway. Another issue is that his speed is not too high yet, and this delay will be very expensive for many promising athletes.