Why Russian, Belarusian athletes have been barred from 2026 Paralympic Winter Games

Russian and Belarusian athletes will not participate in next year's Paralympic Winter Games, even as neutral competitors, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Thursday after consultation with the international federations.

Both countries were banned from Paralympic competitions after Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but regained full membership rights in the International Paralympic Committee after member organisations voted to lift their partial suspensions last month. Belarus is a key staging area for the invasion.

However, the international federation for each sport on the Paralympic Games programme is responsible for determining the qualification pathway for its sport, as well as the eligibility of athletes to compete.

"In the same way that the IPC fully respects the decision of the IPC General Assembly not to maintain the partial suspensions of NPC Belarus and NPC Russia, we also fully respect the decisions of each international federation regarding the sports they govern," IPC President Andrew Parsons said in a statement.

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The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) voted on Tuesday not to facilitate the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) in its qualification events for Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Games.

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) confirmed that Russian and Belarusian Biathlon Federations remain suspended from its competitions, and in January, World Curling extended the exclusion of athletes from both countries until the end of the 2024-25 season.

This means neither nation can qualify for the Games. Russia and Belarus can compete in Para ice hockey competitions, but they are not among the teams involved in November's Paralympic Games qualification tournament.

The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games will take place from March 6-15.