Russian and Belarusian Participation in the Paralympics

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Banning Russia and Belarus

The Olympic Truce has many parts to it that all participating countries must follow. The International Olympic Truce Centre was created in 2000 and promotes the Ancient Greek tradition of Olympic Truce. Its purpose is to establish peace, friendship, and understanding through sports. The Truce is designed so that the environment during the games is a peaceful and safe one, as there can be a lot of tension and anxiety during events such as the Olympics and Paralympics. The agreement that all participating countries sign states that there must be no hostilities between countries during the weeks of the games and the week before and after to ensure that all athletes make it to the games and back home safely. 

A Forbes article states that Russia had signed the agreement to follow the Olympic Truce, but Russia broke that agreement by invading Ukraine. Belarus was very supportive of Russia during the invasion, so Belarus also broke the Truce. In March 2022, The IPC had a board meeting where they decided that Russia and Belarus must be punished for their actions. At the beginning of the invasion, the consequences were that the RPC and NPC Belarus will participate as neutrals, all officials will also participate as neutrals, the IPC will not be holding events in Russia or Belarus for the time being, a committee will be held to determine if the memberships of the Russian Paralympic Committee and Belarus Paralympic Committee should be terminated, Vladimir Putin's Paralympic Honor will be revoked, and Paralympic Orders will be revoked from certain individuals. 

In November 2022, the Russian and Belarus Paralympic Committees were permanently suspended. In late 2023, at the IPC general assembly, the committees may be reinstated, allowing participation in the 2024 games, but that is up for vote (Fiedler, 2022). Russian athletes were originally allowed to compete as neutrals, but due to pressure of other nations threatening not to compete, Russian and Belarusian athletes were completely banned from competing (Waldstein and Chien, 2022). Also, events that were set to take place in Russia were canceled, and no more events will take place in either country.  

(Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics Press Conference)

 Is the Ban Fair?

Whether or not the IPC's decision regarding Russian and Belarusian participation in the Paralympics is fair is a heavy question. There are many things that have to be considered. In my opinion, the IPC made the right decision. Vladimir Putin's actions must be punished by anyone or anything that has been negatively affected. I have sympathy for athletes and officials who worked so hard to participate, only to have it ripped away by a decision that was not theirs. It truly is not fair to those athletes because they had no part in the president's decision to invade Ukraine. However, in order for something like this to never happen again, the more consequences the more likely prevention will be successful. I do not think that the ban is fair to the athletes or officials, but I believe it is necessary given the gravity of the situation. 

I also believe that this decision aligns with the Paralympics' values. The four core values are determination, courage, equality, and inspiration. All of the values encourage positive actions and thoughts regarding sportsmanship and skill in sports. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is something that brewed a lot of negativity, hatred, and fear. So many lives were hurt and changed in negative ways. Russia faced a lot of backlash and consequences from other countries. Belarus also faced that backlash and consequences by being supportive of Russia during this time. I do not think it would make sense to allow a country that has caused so much negativity in the world to participate in such a positive, uplifting event that brings people from all over the world together to do amazing things. 

Removing NPCs/Holding Events in Russia


The IPC made the decision to ban the Russian and Belarusian National Paralympic Committees for 2022, but there is a chance they will be reinstated at the 2023 IPC general assembly. Just like banning the athletes' participation, I think that the decision to remove Russia and Belarus' NPCs was the right decision. In these situations, hard decisions need to be made for the greater good. It may be difficult and unfair, but it is the message and the principle that matters the most. These difficult decisions are what may aid in preventing similar things from happening in the future. Removal of these countries from the Paralympics and the Olympics is not the only consequence that Russia and Belarus have faced since the invasion. All of the consequences they faced and continue to face will hopefully aid in deescalating the situation and prevent it from happening again. 

The IPC has decided to not hold any events in Russia or Belarus. I think this is the best option in terms of safety for the athletes and staff working at the games. It also is another consequence for the two countries as this hurts their economies. The invasion of Ukraine was unexpected and shocking, so many people may be very hesitant to travel to those countries, as well. 

Participation of Russian/Belarusian Athletes


This is a very sensitive and disheartening topic, so it must be taken very seriously and thought out very carefully. I think it is important to listen to those who are affected the most – the athletes. Athletes from other countries threatened to withdraw from the games if Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to participate in the games. The pressure from the threats was so big that the IPC made the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing the day before the games began. This is a very big deal because the IPC's initial ruling was that the athletes from those two countries must compete as neutrals, but that was not enough in the opinion of many other people. The decision to completely ban those athletes was made in fear that their participation could lead to violence and an unsafe environment. Russian athletes, on the other hand, were disappointed and angry over the decision. Russia's sports minister stated that the decision was a violation of the athletes' rights (Waldstein and Chien, 2022).

In my opinion, the decision the IPC made was the right one. It may have been a very difficult decision, and it is not fair to the athletes. However, there are many things that need to be done to show that Putin's actions have consequences. There is no room for exceptions and leniency when it comes to people's lives. This consequence is just one out of the many that Russia and Belarus faced from the invasion. The Russian economy has taken a large toll, and their invasion placed a lot of fear and anger in other countries. Not being able to compete in the Paralympics may seem like a small consequence in the face of things, but the truth is that all parts of Russian life have been disrupted and changed due to this horrible event. Russian and Belarusian athletes have worked so hard to make it to the Olympics and Paralympics, and it is horrible for that to be taken away from them. Hopefully, these consequences aid in preventing this from happening again.

References:

Durkee, A. (2022, October 12). IOC ‘strongly condemns’ Russia for violating ‘olympic truce’             By invading Ukraine. Forbes. Retrieved March 30, 2023 from 
        https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/02/24/ioc-strongly-condemns-russia-for-
        violating-olympic-truce-by-invading-ukraine/?sh=57e996be7c64

International Olympic Truce Centre. International Olympic Committee. (2021, December 21). Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-truce/international-olympic-truce-centre

IPC makes decisions regarding RPC and NPC Belarus. International Paralympic Committee. (2022, March 2). Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.paralympic.org/press-release/ipc-makes-decisions-regarding-rpc-and-npc-belarus?fbclid=IwAR3zAi5KVUQl0OlWlEkQAczwnTfDUGGpTWr90MeZBaq3wjc1c4RfbXtkjSo

Waldstein, D., & Chien, A. C. (2022, March 3). In reversal, Paralympics Bars athletes from Russia and Belarus. The New York Times. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/sports/olympics/paralympics-russia.html



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