Russia To Hold ‘Alternative’ Paralympics For the Banned Athletes

Russia earlier lost its appeal against a ban in Rio Paralympics because of a state-sponsored doping programme.

President of the Russian Paralympic Committee Vladimir Lukin speaks at a news conference in Moscow, Russia. (Photo: AP)

Russia will hold a two-day competition next week for its Paralympic squad banned from Rio, the country’s committee chief said on Wednesday, just as the official games start in Brazil.

“We’re planning to hold on September 7-8 a series of tournaments for the country’s Paralympic athletes at the training bases in the Moscow region,” R-Sport news agency quoted Russia’s Paralympic Committee head Vladimir Lukin as saying.

Russia is set to miss the Paralympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sports last week dismissed an appeal against a blanket ban over allegations of state-run doping. The country has appealed to a federal court in Switzerland against the ruling, but there appears little hope of overturning the suspension before the start of the Paralympics in Rio on 7 September.

Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out against the ban on the country’s Paralympians, calling the decision “outside the law, morality, humanity”. Putin pledged that Russia instead would organise competitions for the banned Paralympians “to show all their skills.”

A Kremlin spokesman said on Wednesday that it was still to be decided if Putin would attend the event. Russia’s Olympic squad narrowly escaped a total ban from the Rio Games, but its track-and-field team was suspended over evidence of state-sponsored drug cheating and corruption in the country.