The following statement from FEI president Ingmar De Vos was released by the FEI concerning the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) decision to ban all Russian paralympians from the 2016 Paralympics in Rio:
“We are very disappointed with today’s IPC decision. Like our Paralympic athletes from all other countries, our three Russian athletes have trained hard to make it to the Paralympic Games and we are troubled that today’s announcement means they cannot participate in Rio. Just as for the Olympic Games, we believe the individual International Federations should be given the opportunity to defend the rights of their clean athletes. Today’s IPC decision does not give us that opportunity. We will not embark on any reallocation process until the appeal period has expired and any potential procedures have concluded.”