Overview

• IPC members in Seoul rejected motions to fully or partially suspend Russia and Belarus, with vote counts of 111–55 and 91–77 for Russia and 119–48 and 103–63 for Belarus, restoring full membership rights.
• The decision creates a possible route for teams to appear under national flags at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, but final entries depend on each winter para sport’s governing body.
• International federations for the six winter para sports have so far kept their bans in place and retain control over who can compete.
• Eligibility would require Russian and Belarusian athletes to hold active 2025/26 licences from their respective international federations in para alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, ice hockey and wheelchair curling.
• The Russian Paralympic Committee welcomed the move as a fair decision, following a period when athletes from the two countries competed as neutrals at Paris 2024 after exclusion from Beijing 2022.