Russia is set to host a series of paralympic events following the International Paralympic Comittee’s (IPC) decision to ban the country’s athletes from the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
The competitions are most likely to take place in Sochi, according to reports, and the news follows last week’s decision to refuse Russian and Belarusian athletes entry to the games.
This u-turn announcement followed the IPC’s previous statement that it was going to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete, but under neutral terms.
On this, Nadine Dorries, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, condemned the organisation’s decision and urged it to reconsider and show retaliation for the conflict like other sports have done.
She wrote: “I’m extremely disappointed in the IPC – this is the wrong decision and I call on them to urgently reconsider. They must join the rest of the world in condemning this barbaric invasion by banning Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing.”
Furthermore, a number of National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) said they would boycott the event if the original decision remained intact.
Under the final decision to not allow Russian athletes in the upcoming competition, Russian officials Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Chernyshenko, specified the city of Khanty-Mansiysk in the line up for hosting their own tournament.
He told Russian news site, Tass: “We have everything necessary to organise fair and bright competitions for Paralympic athletes in all sports presented in the programme of the Games in Beijing.
“Sports results will be recorded at the tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk, records will be celebrated, and medals presented to winners and prize-winners. Athletes should not be deprived of the sports festival for which they have been preparing for several years.”
It has also been reported that the Russian Paralympic Committee Interim President, Pavel Rozhkov, has suggested 15-19 March as potential dates for the competition.