The 2022 Paralympic games was officially launched on the 4th March in Beijing in China. Countries from all around the world will have begun to win medals in their chosen sports and disciplines. Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there has been wide outrage amongst the global sporting community who insist that Russia should be banned from the games. Due to this, a ban was put in place to stop Russia from competing in any sport at the games. The International Paralympic Committee however, didn’t follow this ban at first and felt it would be OK for all Russian and Belarussian parathletes to compete under a neutral flag.
There was still widespread outrage amongst athletes from all countries around the world who didn’t feel that it was appropriate for any Russian or Belarussian athletes to compete in the games, whether it be under a neutral flag or not. Due to this widespread disagreement, the games governing body was forced to change it’s mind and reinstate the ban which would mean that no one from the Russian region would be able to compete at the games.
“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, per AP. “We were trying to protect the Games from war.”
Ihe IOC has always stated that the Olympics or Paralympics shouldn’t be used as a theatre of the highest gegree. Athletes from all countries should be able to compete and represent their countries. If certain athletes come from a country which is war torn or in the middle of a particular dispute or battle with another country, the athletes should carry this burden and take responsibility for their homeland’s actions. The Ukraine invasion, has reportedly increased tensions in the Beijing athletes village which has caused large disputes between athletes and parathletes who would be competing. This has now been raised to an intolerable degree and action had to be taken to ensure that law and order could be maintained amongst athletes from different countries.
“We don’t have reports of any specific incidents of aggression or anything like that,” Parsons said. “But it was a very, very volatile environment in the village. … It was a very rapid escalation, which we did not think was going to happen. We did not think that entire delegations, or even teams within delegations, will withdraw, will boycott, will not participate.”
There has been disagreement from the Russian Paralympic Committee because of the IOC’s decision who say the decision to ban all Russian athletes is completely unfounded. They are currently at work to establish their legal position and build grounds for a law suit due to the fact that athletes are being discriminated against based on their ethnicity and sport is being used as a political tool to inflict pressure on that country’s government.
“We are currently in work to establish our legal position to file lawsuits on the protection of our athletes’ rights, against the discrimination of athletes based on their ethnicity and the use of sports as a tool of a political pressure,” Russian sports minister Oleg Matytsin said, per The Guardian. “Today’s decision of the International Paralympic Committee to bar our team is a blatant violation of athletes’ rights and a manipulation of the Olympic Charter and human lives’ values in pursuit of political goals.”
The IOC has joined many other sports governing bodies from around the world in banning the inclusion of Russian athletes and participants. This includes from sports such as hockey, soccer, basketball, track and field, biathlon, figure skating, skiing, volleyball, chess.
