IPC statement on Russian Para athletes

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) would like to clarify that Friday’s (17 June) IAAF decision does not affect the participation of Russian Para athletics team at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

The Russian Para athletics team train as part of the Russian Paralympic Committee and have no association with the All-Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF).

Since the allegations were first made regarding ARAF, the IPC has been in dialogue with the Russian Paralympic Committee to establish what relationship and interactions, if any, they have with ARAF.

Currently there is no evidence that the anti-doping issues within ARAF extend to the Russian Paralympic Committee or Russian Para athletics team.

Last month, the IPC wrote to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the current Independent Commission chaired by Richard McClaren to verify whether any of the current allegations regarding Russia extend to Para sport and Para athletes.

To try and ensure all athletes are competing in a clean environment at Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the IPC has doubled the budget for pre-Paralympic testing to ensure greater focus on certain countries and territories.