MINSK, March 7 Secretary General of the Paralympic Committee of Belarus Nikolai Shudeiko stated that the conditions for the participation of Belarusian athletes in the Paralympics are discriminatory.
On Wednesday, the International Paralympic Committee published rules for the participation of neutral athletes in the upcoming Paralympic Games. According to them, the delegations of Russia and Belarus were not allowed to participate in the opening ceremony. Also, athletes from both countries will not be present at the closing ceremony of the Games. The Paralympic Games will be held in Paris from August 28 to September 8.
“Once again, there is no common sense in the actions of international sports functionaries… I believe that this (the rules for the participation of Belarusian athletes in the Paralympics — ed.) is another discrimination of the country, Belarus, on a national basis,” Shudeiko said.
He emphasized that this confirms the sequence of events and decisions related to the participation of Belarusian athletes in competitions under the auspices of the International Paralympic Committee.
“»Suspension (from competitions — ed.), then restoration (of membership of the National Committee in the International — ed.), then suspension of membership and admission of athletes to participation… As a result, a set of rules and requirements appeared on the neutral status of the athlete and service personnel. Certain requirements were set out for national symbols, behavior, including participation in various ceremonies: opening, closing, awards — with the participation of our athletes in neutral status. For example, athletes were allowed to march at the opening and closing ceremonies under a neutral flag — or a flag federation of the sport in which the competition is held, or the International Paralympic Committee. And the sign was displayed with the inscription «Neutral Paralympic athletes». I believed that such a document should be universal and apply to all competitions that are held under the auspices of the International Paralympic Committee, and not we need to invent something new,” the interlocutor said.
However, he continued, new conditions for participation in the Paralympics have appeared.
«»Basically, they copied and listed the same thing that was in the rules on neutral status for the world championships and other competitions, except for the Paralympic Games. But something new also appeared (about non-participation in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games — ed.)… Now another humiliation of athletes: you will not be able, as equal participants in the competition, to march in the parade (of athletes — ed.) at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Paralympic Games. I don’t understand this. This is a discriminatory, politicized decision, it is not justified in any way,» Shudeiko noted.
< br>He noted that some experience has already been accumulated in holding international competitions with the participation of Belarusian and Russian athletes as neutral athletes. “Nowhere (at the competitions — ed.) was there any mention of the creation of any kind of hostile atmosphere, violation of the safety of athletes — neither Belarusian and Russian, nor other teams. I think it would be better for functionaries and leaders of the international Paralympic movement to turn to the experience of states that conducted such competitions,… and learn how to organize, how to create conditions that would guarantee the safety of all participants, and adhere to the principle of justice, honesty, equality in relation to representatives of all nations, regardless of their status,” said the organization’s secretary general.
He expressed the hope that eventually the situation, as the geopolitical situation changes, will change and relations in sports will also change, so that sport will no longer be a means of political pressure on countries, but a tool for reconciliation and unification of peoples.
In March 2022, teams from Russia and Belarus were initially allowed to participate in the Beijing Paralympics, but 17 hours later the IPC changed its decision and banned them from the Games. The decision to suspend the membership of the Paralympic Committees of Russia and Belarus was made at the IPC Extraordinary General Assembly in November 2022. In May 2023, the independent appeals tribunal of the International Paralympic Committee upheld on technical grounds the appeals of the Belarusian and Russian Paralympic committees against the suspension of membership in the organization, leaving the suspension of Belarusians and Russians from competitions in force.
Belarusian athletes received the right to compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris in individual neutral status, the International Paralympic Committee announced at the end of September following the results of voting at the organization’s general assembly in Bahrain. At the same time, the General Assembly also voted for the partial suspension of the membership of the Belarusian Paralympic Committee.