The Appeals Tribunal of the International Paralympic Committee reversed the decision to deprive the organization of the Russian Paralympic Committee, the RPC press service reported.
“The IPC Appeals Tribunal has upheld the RPC’s appeal and confirmed that the decision of the IPC General Assembly to suspend RPC’s membership in the organization is reversed. As grounds for annulling the decision, the court invoked procedural defects”, it appears from the message of the committee.
At the same time, Russian Paralympic athletes still cannot participate in international tournaments. The Russian organization continues to examine options for increased protection of athletes’ rights on this issue.
The appeals tribunal noted the absence of clear evidence that would confirm the breach of membership obligations by the RPC. Furthermore, no evidence was provided that when the decision to expel the RPC from the organization was made, the evidence base was properly presented, and all members of the IPC were informed at the ‘advance.
In addition, the members of the Tribunal drew attention to the IPC’s assertion of the possible risks of the use of international events by the Russian Paralympic Committee for propaganda purposes. The court believes that the decision should not be made on the basis of the risks, but on the basis of the actual violations.
The Tribunal found that the allegation that there were risks of breaches of membership obligations by the RPC could not support the allegation that there had been breaches.
Recall that in March 2022, the IPC banned athletes from Belarus and Russia from participating in the Paralympic Games in Beijing. Last November, the IPC suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee’s membership in the organization. In December, the RPC filed a complaint against this decision with the Appeals Tribunal.
Read the Russia Ukraine News on The Eastern Herald.
