Russian Paralympic Committee considers turning to Asia after restoration of full rights in the IPC
The Russian Paralympic Committee is considering the possibility of joining the Asian Paralympic structure, committee president Pavel Rozhkov said at the conference “Development of International Sports Cooperation”, held in Moscow from 20 to 23 May. According to a TASS report, Rozhkov said that this option is open after the International Paralympic Committee last year lifted sanctions against the Russian national Paralympic body, but also warned that Moscow is still taking into account the possibility of new political pressure within international sport. His statement comes at a time when Russian sport, after years of restrictions because of the war in Ukraine and earlier doping scandals, is trying to return to international competitions through different institutional channels.
At the Moscow forum, Rozhkov said that “unfriendly countries”, as Russian authorities and officials call them in political discourse, could again try to push for Russia’s exclusion from the Paralympic movement. Such wording reflects the broader tone of Russian sports organizations, which describe the decisions of Western federations and governments as discriminatory and politically motivated. On the other hand, European and Ukrainian sports institutions have in recent years maintained the position that the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes under national symbols is not acceptable while the war in Ukraine continues. For that reason, the question of Russia’s possible move into the Asian Paralympic family cannot be viewed only as a sports-administrative decision, but also as part of a broader geopolitical realignment of international sport.
What Rozhkov announced in Moscow
According to TASS, Rozhkov recalled that at the General Assembly of the International Paralympic Committee in Seoul in 2025, a decision was adopted to lift restrictions on the Russian Paralympic Committee. He said that this decision has an “important” significance for Russia because it reopens space for Russian para-athletes to participate in competitions under national conditions, but at the same time he stated that the Russian side does not believe the issue has been permanently resolved. In his interpretation, continued pressure from countries that Russia classifies as “unfriendly” could again lead to attempts to suspend or restrict the rights of the Russian committee within the international system.
In that context, he mentioned the possibility of joining the Asian Paralympic family. According to available information, that would mean seeking an institutional framework outside the European Paralympic structure in which Russia has traditionally been placed. Such a step would not be without precedent in wider Russian sport: after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, some Russian sports federations and clubs increasingly considered Asian qualification routes, competitions and partner associations. Nevertheless, the Paralympic system has its own rules, and any change of regional affiliation would require harmonization with international bodies and membership rules.
The Asian Paralympic Committee states on its official website that it brings together 45 national Paralympic committees arranged in five subregions: East, Central, West, South and Southeast Asia. Russia is not currently listed among those members. The International Paralympic Committee, meanwhile, in its register of national Paralympic committees lists the Russian Federation as a member of the Paralympic movement, with the Russian Paralympic Committee as the national body and Pavel Rozhkov as president. This shows that this is a potential change of regional sporting environment, not the creation of a new national Paralympic entity.
The IPC decision in Seoul changed Russia’s legal position
The key background to Rozhkov’s statement is the decision of the International Paralympic Committee adopted on 27 September 2025 at the General Assembly in Seoul. According to the IPC’s official announcement, member organizations voted against maintaining the partial suspension of the Russian national Paralympic committee. The Associated Press reported that the assembly first rejected Russia’s full suspension by a vote of 111 to 55, with 11 abstentions, and then also rejected the partial suspension by a vote of 91 to 77, with eight abstentions. In this way, according to the same report, Russia regained full membership rights in the Paralympic movement.
That decision marked an important shift compared with the situation after February 2022, when Russian and Belarusian athletes were excluded from the Paralympic Games in Beijing after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The IPC initially planned to allow participation under neutral conditions, but changed the decision after strong opposition from other delegations and organizational risks. In the years that followed, Russian and Belarusian athletes gradually returned to certain competitions, mostly under neutral status or through special invitations, depending on the rules of individual sports and federations.
The restoration of full rights in the IPC does not automatically mean that all obstacles for Russian athletes have disappeared. Individual international federations retain their own participation criteria, while competition hosts, national governments and continental bodies may have additional political and security requirements. That is precisely why Rozhkov’s announcement raises the question of whether the Russian Paralympic system is trying to create a more stable competitive route through Asia, where, according to the assessment of Russian officials, resistance could be lower than in the European sporting space.
Europe remains divided over Russia’s return
In its official statement after the IPC decisions, the European Paralympic Committee stated that it continues to condemn the war in Ukraine in the strongest terms and expresses solidarity with the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee and the Ukrainian people. The EPC also emphasized that the war affects millions of people, including athletes with disabilities who have lost loved ones, left their homes or can no longer train normally and travel to international competitions. Such a position shows that the political and moral dimension of Russia’s return to international parasport in Europe is still considered an open issue.
Controversies also continued at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. Ahead of the Games, the Associated Press reported that Russian athletes were allowed to compete under the national flag at the Paralympic Games for the first time in more than a decade, with Russia receiving six places for athletes in para alpine skiing, para cross-country skiing and para snowboard. That return was symbolically powerful because previous Russian appearances had been marked by neutral status, restrictions on the name and bans on state symbols connected with the doping scandal and later sanctions because of the war.
Reactions were not uniform. According to reports by international media, some European countries and the Ukrainian delegation protested against the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes under national symbols. The Guardian reported that Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine boycotted the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, while the British government also decided not to participate in the ceremony. According to the same reports, the IPC defended the decision by referring to the democratic process within the organization and the rules of the Paralympic movement.
The Asian Paralympic space as a possible way out
Consideration of the Asian route fits into a broader pattern of Russian sport turning eastward. After exclusions or restrictions on participation in European competitions, Russian organizations in several sports have sought opportunities in Asia, whether through friendly competitions, qualification tournaments, bilateral agreements or talks with continental bodies. Paralympic sport is particularly sensitive in this regard because access to international competitions directly affects classification, standards, quotas and the continuity of careers for athletes with disabilities.
The Asian Paralympic Committee organizes and oversees the continental Paralympic system, which includes the Asian Para Games and other regional competitions. The next Asian Para Games are scheduled for Aichi-Nagoya 2026, and the official qualification document for that competition describes the sports programme, general eligibility rules and specific criteria by sport. If the Russian Paralympic Committee were in the future given the possibility of participating in Asian qualification systems, that could open new competitive routes, but at the same time it could raise new questions about regional balance, quotas and the rights of existing members.
There is currently no publicly confirmed decision by the Asian Paralympic Committee on Russian accession. Nor is there official confirmation that a formal procedure has already been completed. Therefore, Rozhkov’s statement should be interpreted as a political and sporting announcement of a possible direction, not as a completed institutional change. Such a move would require the consent of the relevant Paralympic bodies and a clear legal basis, especially because the move could have consequences for continental qualifications and relations with the European Paralympic Committee.
What the change would mean for Russian para-athletes
For Russian para-athletes, the most important question is not only under which regional organization their committee will operate, but whether they will have a predictable competition schedule and the possibility of collecting points, standards and classification confirmations. In parasport, international competitions are important for sporting development, but also for the administrative status of athletes, including disability classification, fulfilment of qualification criteria and access to major competitions. Prolonged uncertainty can have consequences for entire generations of athletes, coaches and national programmes.
In recent months, the Russian Paralympic Committee has highlighted on its official website the appearances of Russian athletes at international competitions in table tennis, swimming, judo, paratriathlon, para archery and other sports. This points to a gradual return in certain disciplines, although that return is not the same in all sports and is not taking place without political obstacles. In February 2026, TASS reported that six Russian para-athletes had received special invitations to the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, which further showed how Russian participation currently often relies on a combination of decisions by international bodies, special invitations and sporting criteria.
Possible inclusion in the Asian system could provide Russian athletes with more continuity in competitions, but it would also open a series of practical questions. Among them are the competition calendar, travel costs, qualification conditions, harmonization with classification rules, relations with European competitions and the status of Russian representatives in continental bodies. If the change were implemented, it could also have consequences for other members of the Asian Paralympic space, especially in sports in which quotas for major competitions are limited.
A sporting decision with political consequences
The question of Russia’s move toward Asia shows how much international sports systems have become connected with political crises. Russia presents this process as an attempt to defend the rights of its athletes and as a response to pressure from Western countries. Ukraine and a number of European partners, however, believe that the return of Russian athletes under national symbols normalizes aggression while the war continues. International Paralympic bodies are caught between these opposing demands: on the one hand, they invoke the non-discrimination of athletes, while on the other they face pressure from members demanding clearer political and ethical boundaries.
For now, the only certainty is that the Russian Paralympic Committee has regained full status in the IPC, while the possibility of moving into the Asian Paralympic family is still at the stage of publicly expressed consideration. Whether such a proposal will turn into a formal request and whether Asian and international Paralympic bodies will accept it remains unknown. In the meantime, the position of Russian para-athletes will continue to be shaped by IPC decisions, the rules of individual sports federations, the reactions of European states and the willingness of Asian institutions to take on the role that Russia is increasingly openly seeking.
Sources:
- TASS – report on Pavel Rozhkov’s statement at the conference “Development of International Sports Cooperation” in Moscow (link)
- International Paralympic Committee – official announcement on the General Assembly vote in Seoul on the status of the Russian national Paralympic committee (link)
- International Paralympic Committee – official profile of the Russian Federation in the Paralympic movement (link)
- Asian Paralympic Committee – official list of members and regional division of the Asian Paralympic system (link)
- European Paralympic Committee – statement on the membership status of Russia and Belarus and solidarity with Ukraine (link)
- Associated Press – report on the IPC decision lifting partial suspensions of Russia and Belarus (link)
- Associated Press – report on the return of Russian athletes under the national flag at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games (link)
- The Guardian – report on the boycott of the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games over the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes (link)
- Asian Paralympic Committee – qualification document for the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games (link)