MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian Paralympians may have to miss the 2018 Winter Games as the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) did not communicate criteria for Russia's membership recovery, Rima Batalova, Vice President of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC), said Sunday.
In July, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) urged IPC to suspend the Russian Paralympic team from the Paralympic Games following a report of the WADA independent commission, alleging that Russia had run a state-controlled doping program. Earlier in August, the IPC imposed a blanket ban on Russian Paralympic team.
"The main trouble is that we have been deprived of IPC membership. It means that we will not be able to participate in competitions and gain quotas next year, thus we will miss the 2018 Winter Paralympics. They don't even tell us the criteria for [Russia's] membership recovery," Batalova told R-Sport news agency.
According to Batalova, the IPC decision to ban Russian Paralympic team from participation in Rio games is based on assumptions rather than evidence.
