“The people of India will be enthusiastically cheering for our athletes representing India at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, starting 7th Sept”, tweeted PM Modi.
Advertisement
More than 100 Russian para-athletes have filed individual appeals with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for admission to the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) said on Tuesday.
The court said it would rule later on the team’s ban.
Only Russian track and field athletes were banned from the Olympic Games, with individual sports’ governing bodies deciding if they could compete.
Following cuts to the Paralympics budget, which were announced less than a fortnight ago after Rio 2016 ran out of money to stage the Games in their intended form, athletes arriving in Brazil have been forced to clean “grimy” apartments in the Athletes’ Village and arrange their own transportation, according to The Telegraph.
“Once the Russian Paralympic Committee demonstrates that it will be able in the future to enforce the IPC Anti-Doping Code vigorously and effectively, without interference, the IPC will be glad to welcome Russian athletes back to global competition”.
“Tragically, however, the Russian authorities have denied their athletes this chance through their actions”.
The RPC challenged the suspension imposed by the IPC over state-sponsored doping allegations at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in August. The report, however, hardly mentioned Russian Paralympic athletes, apart from in relation to a list of 35 allegedly disappeared doping samples.
Advertisement
“The requests of all 34 athletes have been rejected”, Patsev said on Wednesday, reports Tass. Nevertheless, the IPC decided on collectively punishing the Russian national team.
