Overview

• IPC members voted in Seoul to lift partial suspensions and fully reinstate the Russian and Belarusian Paralympic Committees, with narrow majorities recorded for both votes.
• Entry for Milan-Cortina 2026 remains constrained because FIS, IBU and World Para Ice Hockey still bar those athletes from qualification, and wheelchair curling quotas are already allocated.
• The IPC said it will work with the two reinstated committees to put practical arrangements in place as soon as reasonably possible.
• Reactions split sharply, with Russia calling the move a fair decision, Ukraine’s sports minister Matvii Bidnyi condemning it and urging hosts not to allow the aggressor’s flag, and France’s Marie-Amélie Le Fur warning of quota inequities and a fractured movement.
• The decision diverges from the IOC’s stance confirmed eight days earlier that limits Russian and Belarusian Olympic entries to strictly vetted neutral individuals.