“Every bomb that explodes in Ukraine increases anger and reduces dialogue”, regrets the president of the International Paralympic Committee

The International Paralympic Committee has decided to backpedal completely. After authorizing Russian and Belarusian athletes on Wednesday to participate in the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games, he decided on Thursday March 3, on the eve of the opening ceremony, to exclude them from the competition. After making the announcement via a press release, the director of the Committee, Andrew Parsons and his spokesperson, Craig Spence spoke at a press conference.

The reasons for an exclusion

“We were wrong about what to do, assumed Andrew Parsons. We had to ensure fair play. We ban violence, sport and politics should not be mixed. We want to put the Games outside of war. We have been contacted by many officials and athletes. We cannot give a number, but there were many. Some had announced that they had decided not to participate if the Russians were there, even under a neutral banner.

No one is happy but it’s the best decision. We obviously feel sorry for the Russian and Belarusian athletes. They are victims of the action of their government. National Olympic Committees have written to us. They told us: if you don’t exclude the Russians and Belarusians, nothing will happen. But once the decision was made, they told us that they would leave. The change has been very rapid.”

The IPC Governing Board has decided to refuse the athlete entries from the RPC and NPC Belarus for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. https://t.co/8rE0szi8YE

— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) March 3, 2022

The atmosphere in the Olympic village in question

“We didn’t hear of any aggression, but the atmosphere in the village after our decision was very ‘volatile’. We wanted to avoid it. The temperature rose very quickly in the village. It’s not no place for violence or fighting. We all want to live together. Every bomb that explodes in Ukraine increases anger and reduces dialogue.”

The legality of this expulsion

“Our position from a legal point of view is the same as yesterday (Wednesday), explained Craig Spence, the spokesperson during the press conference. Unlike yesterday, we are a political organization. And when we have the states behind the scenes pressuring the National Olympic Committees telling them they’re going to pull out, we have to be very careful.”