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Putin says Russia’s ban from Rio Paralympics is immoral, inhumane

The Russian president has strongly attacked the ban on the country’s Paralympic team from competing in Rio next month.

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With just two weeks to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the Nigeria Paralympics Committee has yet to name the members of the Team to represent the country.

The GB Paralympic team will be gearing up to show their skills on September 7th.

His testimony was used in the investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that resulted in all but one of the athletes on Russia’s track-and-field team being banned from the Rio Olympics.

“I strongly believe that real perpetrators of the dirty system must be punished and banned from sport”. Their inclusion means Georgia will have five athletes competing in the Paralympic Games.

Six Russian athletes – para-cyclists Alexey Obydennov, Svetlana Moshkovich and Natalia Yanuto, track-and-field athlete Alexey Ashapatov, Paralympic swimmer Olesya Vladykina and Margarita Goncharova, competing mainly in category T38 sprint events, made a decision to send letters to the IPC requesting it to consider allowing them to participate in the games. In the event of a refusal, the athletes say they may request a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Putin, speaking at an award ceremony for the Russian Olympians at the Kremlin, said the country would hold special competitions for the banned Paralympics athletes.

On Thursday, the state announced that every medalist would receive a large cash prize, reaching 4 million rubles (some $62,000 or 55,000 euros) for those who placed first in their Olympic discipline.

“You came through a tough test with honor”, Putin told a room full of Olympic gold medalists. “But our team, you, my friends, coped with all the difficulties, competed as a united team”.

In addition to the cars, Sport Minister Vitaly Mutko said medalists would be receiving cash awards for their achievements: $62,000 for gold, $39,000 for silver, $26,000 for bronze.

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Russian Federation was fourth in the medal count at the Rio games with 56 medals, 19 of them gold. “I want to send a message to all those injured that they too can achieve their dreams”. “And look at the leadership of all the sports institutions”.

Putin calls ban on Russia's Paralympic team inhumane