Boycott calls force Paralympics committee to reverse decision banning Russia and Belarus athletes

The organisers of the Winter Paralympics have peddled back on their decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete. The reversal of the decision comes amidst mounting pressures of boycott and threats of withdrawal from the international committee. The reversal came a day after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) initially announced that it would let the athletes participate in the games as neutral athletes without colors, flags and other national symbols on their outfits.

Andrew Parsons, IPC president, said that IPC is a very firm believer that sport and politics should not mix. “However, by no fault of its own the war has now come to these games and behind the scenes many governments are having an influence on our cherished event.

He added that the “rapidly escalating situation” has now put the organisation in a unique and impossible position so close to the start of the games.

“Yesterday we said we would continue to listen, and that is what we are doing. In the last 12 hours, an overwhelming number of members have been in touch with us and been very open, for which I am grateful. They have told us that if we do not reconsider our decision, it is now likely to have grave consequences for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. Multiple NPCs, some of which have been contacted by their governments, teams and athletes, are threatening not to compete,” he added.

He added that the situation in the athlete villages is escalating and has now become untenable. “To the para athletes from the impacted countries, we are very sorry that you are affected by the decisions your governments took last week in breaching the Olympic truce.  You are victims of your governments’ actions,” said Parsons.

The organisers join the likes of FIFA and UEFA who expelled Russia from the 2022 World Cup and suspended the teams from international football competitions. Meanwhile, Russia has slammed the IPC back for its decision calling it “monstrous” and “a disgrace”.

Since the announcement, mentions on the paralympics increased by 1306%, with 4.47K mentions a day, according to Meltwater.

Most of the conversations are also arising from US, UK and Canada and peaked on 3 March 2022.

IPC’s worldwide sponsors include the likes of Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-cola, Intel, Omega, Ottobock, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyota and Visa.

Earlier this week, Airbnb announced that it will offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine. These stays will be funded by Airbnb, Inc., donors to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund, and the generosity of Hosts through Airbnb.org. Toyota also announced yesterday that it is suspending operations in Russia and will stop shipping vehicles to the country, due to "supply chain disruptions".

Meanwhile, Visa has also blocked multiple Russian financial institutions from its network, and said it will be taking prompt action to align with the applicable sanctions while donating US$2 million in aid.

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