INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian athletes will be allowed to compete at the Paris Paralympics in 2024 under a neutral flag after officials voted against an outright
ban.A majority of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on Friday allowed Russian athletes to compete "in an individual and neutral
capacity" without national flags, colors or emblems.Russia has been suspended from Paralympic competition since the country's invasion of
Ukraine in February 2022.The decision to allow Russians to take part in the Paralympics next year was made hours after the IPC, in its
General Assembly in Manama, Bahrain, voted against a full ban on Russian participation.The IPC on Friday also voted against fully banning
athletes from Moscow's ally Belarus from the 2024 Paralympics
A decision on whether they will also be required to compete under a neutral banner is expected to follow.Andrew Parsons, president of the
IPC, said the organization was "very firm believers that sport and politics should not mix."The IPC did though decide to partially suspend
the Russian National Paralympic Committee for two years due to "breaches of its constitutional membership obligations."After Russia's
invasion of Ukraine, the IPC banned athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus from competing, while also suspending both countries'
Paralympic committees.As a result, Paralympic athletes from both nations were barred from taking part in the Winter Paralympics in Beijing
in March 2022.In Friday's second vote, 90 members voted in favor of the motion, with 65 against and six abstentions.The earlier vote on an
outright ban on Russian athletes narrowly failed, with 74 opposed, 65 in favor and 13 abstentions.The decision comes two weeks before
at the Paris Olympics next year.The IOC has previously stated a decision on allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes at the 2024 Olympics
its assault on Ukraine in February of 2022.The Russian Olympic Committee said earlier in September it would not boycott the Paris Games and
that Russians were free to compete in the Olympics as neutrals."Boycotting the Games leads to nowhere," Russian Olympic Committee President
Stanislav Pozdnyakov said."We live together in a free state
Every person can, if they so wish, take the path" of competing under a neutral banner, Pozdnyakov said.Pozdnyakov criticized the existing
recommendations as "prohibitive in nature," saying the rules "will not allow a large number of our athletes to take part in the Olympic
Games."The United Nations in July documented 9,000 civilian deaths since the start of the war in Ukraine, including 500 children, although
it estimates the real toll could be significantly higher.
