🚨 88 Russian athletes and 8 Belarusian athletes have been authorized to compete in the Paralympic Games under a neutral flag. However, several of them continue to publicly support the war in Ukraine and the Russian army, which contradicts the values of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
💥 As long as Russian bombs continue to fall on Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes have no place at the Paris Paralympic Games. Stand With Ukraine calls on the IPC to take strong action and exclude athletes who support the criminal Russian regime.
🚫🇷🇺🇧🇾 For the record, since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia and Belarus have not been excluded from the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but have been allowed to let their athletes compete under a neutral flag, provided they do not support the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and do not belong to the Russian or Belarusian military. These countries will not have their national anthem or flag. Additionally, Russian and Belarusian parasports athletes will not be allowed to participate in the opening ceremony on the Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde.
🥇 Medals won by Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will not be counted on the medal table. In the event of a victory by a neutral athlete, the Paralympic anthem will be played.
🔴 Nearly 500 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed, and more than 500 sports infrastructures have been destroyed by the Russian aggressor since February 2022. We ask the IPC to uphold the principles of justice and exclude athletes who support the war of aggression in Ukraine.
#BloodGames2024
