Athletes from Russia and Belarus are banned from competing at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board announced Thursday.
The decision marks the latest of several sporting sanctions to have been imposed against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, IPC president Andrew Parsons said: "At the IPC we are very firm believers that sport and politics should not mix. However, by no fault of its own the war has now come to these Games and behind the scenes many Governments are having an influence on our cherished event."
"When our members elected the board in December 2021 it was to maintain and uphold the principles, values, and rules of the Paralympic Movement. As board members that is a responsibility and duty we take extremely seriously," Parsons added.
Recently, the International Olympic Committee has urged all sports to ban athletes and teams from the two countries from participating in international competitions.
In like manner, the World Athletics Council also announced that Russian and Belarussian athletes would be excluded from all World Athletics Series events for the foreseeable future.
Notably, the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics is set to take place on Friday ahead of the start of competitions on Saturday.
Russia was due to be represented by 71 athletes while Belarus had entered 12, none of which are now permitted to take part.
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