(ATR) The International Paralympic Committee cancelled the accreditation of the Belorussian delegation member who carried a Russian flag into the Paralympics Opening Ceremony.
IPC communications director Craig Spence confirmed to Around the Rings that the man was not an athlete, but a guest of the president of the Belorussian National Paralympic Committee. Spence said that his accreditation was swiftly revoked, but there were no other sanctions to the NPC currently.
"This was an individual who is not an athlete or coach we took the actions against the individual," Spence said. "If they continue to break the rules we will look at some other form of action, but for now we are giving them a warning"
Russia has been banned from the Rio 2016 Paralympics after the IPC found evidence of a state sponsored doping system aiding Russian para-athletes. The IPC suspended the Russian NPC for violation of the Paralympic doping code. Criteria for the reintroduction of Russian para-athletes to competition will be decided after Rio 2016.
Russian media identified the Belorussian individual as Andrei Fomachkin a triathlete who competed for the Soviet Union and served as the deputy tourism minister for Belarus. A spokesperson for Belorussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko released a statement supporting the gesture. The spokesperson said that Belarus was "appalled" by the ban on Russian athletes.
A spokesperson for the Kremlin also voiced support for the gesture. Dmitry Peskov told Russian media the gesture was a "bold act."
"What the Belarus Paralympians did is worthy of admiration," Peskov said in a statement. "We certainly treasure this gesture of solidarity with our Paralympians, who were unjustly stripped of a chance to take part in the Paralympics."
Written by Aaron Bauerin Rio de Janeiro.
For general comments or questions,click here.
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
