The Beijing Paralympics start on Friday.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) will allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Winter Paralympics in Beijing this week, but athletes will not be allowed to use their national symbols. The IPC said this on Wednesday.
The Russians and Belarusians will compete in Beijing under the Paralympic flag, and their achievements will not be counted in the medal table of the Games.
The IPC also said on its website that it will not yet hold competitions in Russia or Belarus and will later decide on the countries’ continued membership of the IPC.
The Beijing Winter Paralympics will compete on May 5-13. March, but the competition will open on the Friday before the start of the actual competition events.
About 650 athletes from 49 different countries will take part in the competitions. The Finnish team has six athletes. Sports at the Winter Paralympics include hockey, snowboarding, biathlon, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing and wheelchair curling.
Chairman of the Finnish Paralympic Committee Sari Rautio is appalled by the decision of the IPC board.
– In recent days, the IPC has heard widely from its member states, not just from us in the Nordic countries, the demand to exclude Russia and Belarus from the Paralympics. Yet IPC made such a cowardly decision. This movement, if any, should be on the side of peace. I am indescribably disappointed, Rautio says in a press release from the Finnish Paralympic Committee.
According to the press release, the Nordic countries had sent an IPC chairman on Monday To Andrew Parsons a letter demanding the exclusion of Russia and Belarus from the Games.
Story and title updated at 15.31: Added information from the Finnish Paralympic Committee’s press release.