At its meeting in Bahrain on Friday, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) decided to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in next year’s Paralympic Games in Paris.
The majority of the members of the International Paralympic Committee IPC voted in favor of allowing Russians to compete as neutral athletes without the Russian flag and the country’s colors and emblems.
In the IPC membership, the votes were divided 90–56 (six members abstained) in favor of qualifying Russian athletes only as neutral athletes. Before this, there was a vote to continue the exclusion of Russia, but the proposal was defeated by votes of 74–65 (13 members abstained).
A wheelchair curler among Finnish Paralympic-level athletes Toni Piispanen and a luge skier Blue Please said they were very disappointed with the IPC’s decision.
– Yes, my main thought is extremely disappointing. This is really worrying in terms of the value base of the entire Paralympic movement. However, it has been an exemplary pioneer of the peace movement. Regarding the fact that there are many people who are disabled in different ways due to different conflicts, Piispanen strongly describes to Urheilu.
– The status and image of the Paralympics as the culmination of a celebration of joy and peace is thus weakened from the athlete’s point of view, he continues.
Sini Pyy, who competed in luge skiing at the Winter Paralympics, is coming from Biispa.
– I was a little dismayed when I read about it. Somehow, that’s why it has taken me a little time to process that decision. It really surprised me and it saddens me that the International Paralympic Committee made such a choice, Pyy describes.
“I thought something would have been learned from it”
The bishop was equally surprised that the IPC votes passed very clearly in favor of the return of the Russians.
– When we think about big issues related to Russia that I myself have previously taken a stand on, such as anti-doping issues, the IPC has been very strict. Now, such a clear difference in this matter totally surprised me.
Pyy emphasizes that the IPC ultimately did not learn from previous events. However, after Russia started the war of aggression in Ukraine, the Paralympic Federation decided to accept Russian athletes in its international competitions. At the time, the decision was met with widespread criticism, which caused the union to back down and reverse its decision soon.
– I thought something would have been learned from it. It is really special that the association is so strongly at odds with many other international sports associations. For example, the umbrella organization of my sport FIS (International Ski Federation) made the exact opposite decision on Friday. The whole situation is surprising, he says.
Piispanen also considers the matter from the perspective of the competition through the eyes of an athlete. With the decision, Russian athletes will be able to enter the qualifying competitions of sports under the IPC. There are a total of six major Paralympic sports managed by the association, of which athletics is significant in Finnish terms.
– Probably on the spot in the Paris Games and in the qualifying competitions before it, the feelings before, during and after the competition are not the kind of celebration of joy that we are used to until now.
The chairman of the umbrella association showed hypocrisy
Sini Pyy praises the fact that Finland and the other Nordic countries held their line in the vote, voting against the return of the Russians. According to Pyy, the decision respected the line of Finnish para athletes.
However, the other parties’ comments and justifications for the decision did not receive the same recognition from the skier studying political research and international relations at the University of Lapland.
– In decisions, for example, the chairman of the IPC Andrew Parsons justified the organization’s latest policy by saying that “sport and politics should not be mixed”. I think it is an argument on the level of “coffee beans and water should not be mixed when coffee is brewed”.
– I think this comment is hypocritical from an athlete’s point of view. In my studies, I have learned a lot about the connection between politics and sports, which is why I strongly believe that sports are very political. Sports are supported at the state level, we represent Finland at the games and the heads of state meet us when we arrive home from the games. I’m going to say straight away that such statements are short-sighted and special, Pyy argues forcefully.
Doping and war were put on the same level
Sini Pyy hopes that the discussion on the issue will continue. There is less than a year until the Paralympic Games in Paris, so he thinks there is still time. He himself also sees that international sports federations can make their own decision, different from the umbrella organization.
– The decision of the IPC is unlikely to be overturned, but I would like to have a discussion on the matter, rather than just letting it be. It will be interesting to see what the International Olympic Committee does in turn. I wouldn’t like to see this be a sign of things to come, he thinks.
He himself wonders why the IPC, in its decision, finally put doping on the same level as warfare.
After Russia’s big doping scandal blew up after the Sochi 2014 Olympics and Paralympics, Russian athletes were excluded from international sports. When the ban was diluted, the Russian athletes returned to compete as athletes without badges, just like now.
– I think this new decision is aligned with the International Paralympic Committee, so that the doping scandal after the Sochi Games and the war of aggression in Ukraine are seen on the same line. However, the consequences are the same, he reflects.
– I was also thinking about Ukrainian athletes. In the future, they may have to live in a competition village and compete with each other, while at the same time we remember what kind of pictures of all the destruction in Ukraine have come to the world since the start of the war. I think it’s quite unreasonable for them.
The Paris Olympics will take place from July 26 to 11. August, after which the Paralympics will be held on August 28, 2024.