On Monday, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) informed the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) that they must meet a specific reinstatement criteria in order to have their IPC suspension lifted.
The criteria was developed in deliberation with with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the reinstatement criteria outlines the main requirements the RPC must meet in order to be reinstated to the IPC.
The RPC was suspended on August 7th, due to their inability to fulfill their IPC obligations.
The IPC will appoint a task force that will work with the RPC and determine whether or not the criteria has been met. The task force will be made up of five people along with an independent chairperson.
IPC President Sir Philip Craven said “The aim of the reinstatement criteria and the IPC taskforce is to assist the RPC as much as we can in bringing about the significant practical and cultural changes that are required in order for it to fulfil its IPC membership obligations in full.
“Although there is no timeline for the RPC to implement the changes required, we want to work closely with them in order to bring about the necessary changes sooner, rather than later.
“The RPC is an important part of the Paralympic Movement and its athletes want to be competing against the world’s best athletes on the international stage. With the RPC’s full co-operation and transparency, we will immediately lift its suspension once we are confident that all reinstatement criteria and verification criteria have been, and will continue to be, met in full.
“The IPC will also invite the RPC to meet in the coming weeks to go through the reinstatement criteria in full to ensure there is a comprehensive understanding of what is required.”
Take a look at an outline of the criteria below:
Reinstatement Criteria
The reinstatement criteria outline the conditions the RPC must meet, and continue to meet going forward. They require that the RPC demonstrate (by its own efforts and also by securing the support and assistance of other relevant parties, as necessary) that:
1. The RPC is compliant with all the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Program (including, in particular, the World Anti-Doping Code) and the IPC Anti-Doping Code that are applicable to a National Paralympic Committee.
2. The RPC, IPC, International Federations and RUSADA (once RUSADA has been declared Code-compliant again) are all able to carry out their respective anti-doping activities in Russia and in relation to Russia Para athletes and athlete support personnel effectively and without external interference (as part of this, the RPC will need to adequately address the findings of the McLaren Report).
3. As a result, the participation in IPC-sanctioned competitions of Para athletes and athlete support personnel under the RPC’s jurisdiction will not jeopardise the integrity of those competitions.
Verification criteria
The verification criteria include a number of conditions that need to be met by the RPC, in particular in the following four areas:
• Establishment of an RPC coordination committee
• RPC governance and structure
• Establishment of a strong anti-doping culture
• Anti-doping education, testing and results management
Look at the full criteria here.