IPC working for Russia’s return to global paralympic body

Moscow, Sep 5 (IANS) The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is working to define a criteria for Russia's reinstatement in the global organisation, which barred the country from taking part in the upcoming 2016 Summer Paralympics in Brazil.

"The IPC is still developing the steps the Russian Paralympic Committee will need to take to meet its membership obligations," IPC spokesman Craig Spence said on Monday, reports Tass.

"By rule, the Russian Paralympic Committee's suspension will be lifted immediately following the governing board's determination that the member is once again able to meet its membership obligations in full," Spence added.

Vladimir Lukin, the President of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC), announced last Tuesday that the RPC sent an enquiry to IPC asking to specify the criteria necessary for reinstating Russia's suspended membership.

The IPC decided to bar the whole Russian Paralympic team from taking part in the 2016 Summer Paralympics on August 7. The ruling came on the heels of a report delivered earlier in the summer by the independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The commission, led by Canadian sports law professor Richard McLaren, claimed in particular that a total of 35 doping samples were concealed by Russia of its paralympians between 2012 and 2015.

However, it turned out later that not all the stated cases of concealed doping samples concerned the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC). Nevertheless, the IPC decided on collectively punishing the Russian national team.

The RPC filed a lawsuit with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on August 15 against the IPC's decision, but eight days later, the Swiss-based court upheld the ban.