Deputy PM Mutko hopes for Russian Paralympics’ near-future reinstatement with IPC

MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Thursday he hoped that the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) would speed up the process regarding the membership reinstatement of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC). "The situation is in slow motion, but is still moving," Mutko, who oversees issues regarding sports, tourism and youth policies in the country, told journalists. "The International Paralympic Committee has set up a compliance commission, which is in close contact with the Russian Paralympic Committee." "Questions were asked and the Russian Paralympic Committee answered them and it is very difficult to make any sort of predictions at the moment," Mutko said. "However, I do not believe that the answer on the issue is in the sports dimension." "The most important is that the international federations, which are not under the control of the International Paralympic Committee, are allowing our athletes to participate in the international tournaments," Mutko said. "I hope this work will be sped up." The IPC announced in its statement on February 13 that it had reached certain progress with the RPC on the national organization’s membership reinstatement in the global body. However, the IPC added that the Russian Paralympic body needed to work further on implementing its reinstatement criteria, while the currently imposed suspension would remain in force for an indefinite period. On August 7, 2016, the IPC decided to bar the entire Russian team from taking part in the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on August 23 upheld the IPC ruling that came on the heels of a report delivered in July by the WADA Independent Commission, chaired by Canadian sports law professor Richard McLaren. The McLaren-led commission claimed in particular that a total of 35 doping samples were concealed by Russian Paralympic sports between 2012 and 2015. Besides collectively punishing the Russian national team by banning it from the Rio Games, the IPC also decided to suspend its RPC membership in the international organization. The Russian Paralympic team is now facing the possibility of being banned from the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea’s PyeongChang. On November 21, the IPC made public a list of criteria Russia must meet to resume the RPC membership and be allowed to take part in international competitions. Officials from the two Paralympic organizations met in mid-December in Bonn to discuss these criteria. On January 11, the Russian Paralympic Committee referred to the IPC in its edition of the roadmap for reviving its membership. Read more