However, IPC President is optimistic the Paralympic Games will go on and he views these financial concerns like many in the rare disease community view their concerns – as another wall that needs to be climbed.
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U.S. Paralympics have named their largest-ever delegation for a Paralympic Games with 267 athletes due to represent the country in Rio de Janeiro next month.
A ban on Russian athletes competing in the Rio Paralympics was upheld yesterday, triggering anger in Moscow after the country lost an appeal against their exclusion over a vast, state-run doping programme.
IPC President Sir Philip Craven said it was an “unprecedented attack on every clean athlete who competes in sport”.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on August 7 suspended the entire Russian team from the 2016 Paralympics, which run from September 7-18.
Almost 4,300 athletes from 164 countries took part in the 2012 London Paralympic Games.
“The CAS Panel in charge of this matter found that the IPC did not violate any procedural rule in dealing with the disciplinary process leading to the RPC’s suspension and that the decision to ban the RPC was made in accordance with the IPC Rules and was proportionate in the circumstances”.
“Banning our Paralympic athletes from Rio 2016 is a cynical decision motivated by a desire to remove strong rivals”, Mr Medvedev said. “The Paralympics have a strong track record for changing global attitudes towards people with an impairment, and are now widely regarded as the world’s number one sporting event for driving positive societal change and social inclusion”.
The IPC said in Rio two weeks ago it had evidence of manipulated doping tests relating to 44 Russian athletes, including 27 from competitors in eight sports that are part of the Paralympic program.
The row centres on a report for the World Anti-Doping Agency that found the Russian government and the FSB security service had covered up hundreds of doping cases over many years.
On Tuesday, Craven said the ruling was a “sad day for the Paralympic Movement, but we hope also a new beginning”.
Still, it was “not a day for celebration and we have enormous sympathy for the Russian athletes who will now miss out on the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games”, the British official said. Russia’s weightlifting team was banned and only one track and field athlete, who trained in the US out of the Russian testing system, was ruled eligible.
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A further 18 samples were tampered with at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, where Russian Federation won nearly half of the gold medals on offer.
