Friedhelm Julius Beucher was disappointed, perplexed and angry. The return of Russian athletes to the stage of world Paralympic sports amid the war of aggression in Ukraine surprised and shocked the President of the German Disabled Sports Association. “This is not a great moment for the IPC’s community of values,” said Beucher during the members and general assembly of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in the Gulf state of Bahrain. Even if, according to relevant decisions, Russian athletes will only be allowed to compete at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris under a neutral flag and not in team competitions.
The 77-year-old Beucher, once chairman of the sports committee in the Bundestag for four years, had previously called for the exclusion to be maintained in an energetic speech to the assembly. Compared to the vote in November 2022, Beucher said nothing had changed: “There is still war going on. More terrible than before.” “We didn’t hear a single sentence of regret from the Russian Paralympic Committee. No, on the contrary. They are calling for war and glorifying murder and killing,” said Beucher.
Beucher described a start under a neutral flag as “eyewash. How can you be neutral?” He asked: “Declare that you are against the war and then receive the medals of merit in the Kremlin?” And at the end of his speech he called out to the delegates: “Be strong! Let’s walk out of this vote with our backs straight and our eyes clear. Say no!” But the delegates didn’t do that.
While Beucher and his allies, most of whom come from Europe, were previously certain of a narrow majority, the whole thing surprisingly changed on Friday. Initially, 74 associations voted against a complete exclusion of Russia, with 65 votes in favor and 13 abstentions. They then voted 90:56 with six abstentions against launching under the Russian flag.
Russian athletes are not allowed to take part in the Olympic Games – yet
Officially, Russia’s Paralympic Committee remains suspended for another two years, subject to reassessment at the next regular general meeting. Athletes and coaches must meet certain IPC guidelines. In addition, Russia is not allowed to organize any official IPC competitions during this period. The decision on the athletes from Belarus who are currently also excluded will follow separately.
A vote to maintain the complete exclusion would have meant the end of the Paralympics, regardless of when the war might end, as the Russian athletes would have had hardly any qualification opportunities left.
The Paralympics in Paris will take place next year from August 28th to September 8th. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, had said she did not want to host Russian and Belarusian athletes if the war was still ongoing. There is still no decision about admitting Russian athletes to the Olympic Games in Paris. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended in the spring that Russians and Belarusians should be allowed to compete as neutral athletes in international competitions. Against this background, it is likely that athletes from Russia and Belarus will also be allowed to compete at the Olympics next year under certain conditions.