Russia’s entire athletic delegation has been banned from the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The International Paralympic Committee on Sunday announced Russia’s suspension due to a widespread doping scandal. The IPC board’s decision was unanimous.
“This decision has placed a huge burden upon all our shoulders, but it’s a decision we’ve had to take in the best interests of the Paralympic Movement,” IPC President Sir Philip Craven said in a statement.
The ban was anticipated before the announcement as part of the fallout from Team Russia’s massive Olympic doping scandal.
A World Anti-Doping Agency panel last November released an explosive report that accused the Russian government of helping its athletes cheat doping tests. The WADA later hired Toronto lawyer Richard McLaren to conduct an independent investigation into Russia’s program; the so-called McLaren Report, released in July, concluded that Russia’s ministry of sports helped manipulate doping tests so that drug-enhanced athletes would be sure to pass them.
Russia’s Paralympic athletes have historically been among the top contenders in the world games. During the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Russia ranked second overall in the gold medal count, placing only behind China.
Russia has three weeks to appeal the IPC’s decision. If the ban is upheld, it will mark the first time an entire country’s delegation has been barred from the games, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Other Russian athletes competing in Rio narrowly managed to escape the fate now facing their Paralympic counterparts. Just weeks before the start of the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee announced there would be no blanket ban on Russia’s athletes.
Athletes were tested on an individual basis and 271 of 387 were ultimately cleared to participate in the games.
“Ultimately, as the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement, it is our responsibility to ensure fair competition, so that athletes can have confidence that they are competing on a level playing field,” Crave said. “This is vital to the integrity and credibility of Paralympic sport, and in order to achieve this it is fundamental that each member abides by the rules.”
The Rio Paralympics, in which athletes with disabilities compete in sports that include wheelchair fencing, swimming and taekwondo, start Sept. 7.
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