No Russian or Belarusian athletes 'likely to qualify' for Winter Paralympics / Photo: © OIS/IOC/AFP/File
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No Russian or Belarusian athletes 'likely to qualify' for Winter Paralympics
No Russian or Belarusian athletes "are likely to qualify" for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said in a statement on Thursday.
In September, the IPC unexpectedly decided to lift a partial suspension of Russia and Belarus imposed since Moscow's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
However, the IPC reiterated Thursday that the "international federation for each sport on the Paralympic Games programme is responsible for determining the qualification pathway for its sport, as well as the eligibility of athletes to compete".
The body announced it had "received confirmation from each of the four international federations with sports on the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games programme... that, in practice, no athletes from the two nations are likely to qualify for March's Games".
The federations in question are the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), the International Biathlon Union (IBU), World Curling and World Para Ice Hockey.
On Tuesday, the FIS voted "not to facilitate the participation of athletes from Belarus and Russia in its qualification events", while the IPC stated the IBU had confirmed that athletes from the countries "remain suspended from its competitions".
As for wheelchair curling, the international federation had extended the exclusion of Russia and Belarus from its competitions "until the end of the 2024-2025 season", meaning the two nations "cannot qualify" for Milan-Cortina.
While Russia have the right to compete in Para ice hockey competitions, the sport's federation said "it is not possible in practice for the nation to qualify" for the Paralympics.
"The IPC fully respects the decision of the IPC General Assembly not to maintain the partial suspensions of NPC Belarus and NPC Russia, we also fully respect the decisions of each international federation regarding the sports they govern," said IPC president Andrew Parsons.
The Brazilian added now that the positions of the four federations were "clear", he hoped the "focus will now be very much on the outstanding athletes and NPCs that will compete at Milano Cortina 2026".
I.Stoeckli--VB