Berlin (dpa) – In view of the war in Ukraine, the German Disabled Sports Association wants to campaign for the Russian team to be excluded from the upcoming Paralympics. This was announced by Association President Friedhelm Julius Beucher in an interview with the newspaper “Welt”.
It is true that Russian athletes cannot do anything for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “But the massive revolt worldwide is a sign. This attack, which violates international law, this breach of promises, cannot leave us in a state of faintness,” said Beucher. At the same time, he refused to cancel the Paralympics taking place in Beijing from March 4th to 13th. This would leave no impression on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“A ban on the participation of Russian athletes, on the other hand, could, in my opinion, affect Mr. Putin’s nationalist consciousness more,” said Beucher. He now wants to ask the President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Brazilian Andrew Parsons, to think about such an exclusion scenario in the committees and in consultation with the International Olympic Committee. If possible, this should be decided. “I cannot and do not want to imagine that Russia would march into the opening ceremony at the Paralympics, even if not as a nation but as a Russian Paralympic Committee,” said Beucher.
It currently looks as if the athletes from Ukraine do not know how to get to China. If they were to compete there against athletes from other nations, that could also be a powerful sign of peace, explained the head of the German association. “That’s why the question of canceling the games cannot arise,” explained Beucher.