The International Paralympics Committee announced Friday (Sept. 29) that it had partially suspended the National Paralympic Committees of Russia and Belarus "for breaches of their constitutional membership obligations."
Belarus aided Russia last year in launching its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The partial suspension means that Belarusian and Russian athletes will be allowed to compete as individuals under a neutral flag in the 2024 Paris Paralympics, which will take place August 28-September 8.
The IPC voted 90-56 in favour of partially suspending Russia and 79-57 in favour of Belarus's partial suspension. Both decisions came after the committee, meeting in Manama, Bahrain, voted against the full suspensions of each country (74-65 and 74-56, with abstentions) which would have allowed no participation from their athletes.
Russian and Belarusian athletes were completely banned from the 2022 Winter Paralympics in China after other teams threatened to boycott those games. Russia was also banned from the 2016 Paralympics after evidence of state-sponsored doping surfaced, but athletes were allowed to compete under neutral flags in 2018 and 2021.
The suspensions will remain in place until 2025, though both Russia and Belarus have the right to appeal to the IPC Independent Appeals Tribunal.
The IOC will hold equivalent votes at its upcoming 140th Session in Mumbai from October 15-17. 35 countries, including Ireland, the U.S., and the U.K., have signed a statement saying that they "do not agree" that Belarusian and Russian athletes should be allowed to compete at the Olympics, especially given the link between sport and politics in both countries. Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland have threatened to boycott the Olympics entirely if the Belarusians and Russians are allowed to compete.
