Para skier Inkki Inola criticizes reinstatement of Russia and Belarus by IPC: “Wrong decision on every level”

Finnish para cross-country skier Inkki Inola, aiming for gold at next winter’s Milano–Cortina Paralympic Winter Games, sharply criticized the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) decision to lift the suspension of Russia and Belarus from para sport. The vote took place at an IPC meeting in South Korea.

“In every way it’s the wrong decision. The situation in Ukraine hasn’t changed, so there’s no basis to change the line,” Inola said. He called it particularly troubling that national identifiers and team sports participation could be allowed for Russia, which is not the case at the Olympics. “This was quite a lowering of the bar by the IPC.”

Inola serves on the Finnish Paralympic Committee’s athletes’ council and had not yet discussed the ruling extensively with peers, but he believes Finnish athletes broadly agree that Russia should not be admitted while the war continues. He stressed the human consequences: Ukraine’s team includes many war veterans injured in the conflict, and allowing athletes from the aggressor nation to compete against them would be “grotesque.”

Finnish Paralympic Committee chair Sari Rautio voted against reinstatement, but she assessed that European countries were outvoted, likely by members outside Europe whose governments maintain various ties with Russia. Inola suggested those geopolitical relationships influenced the outcome and amounted to the wrong kind of solidarity.

While the IPC decision sets a general framework, international federations still control sport-specific eligibility and implementation. “In that sense, there’s still a safeguard: FIS will make the final decisions on whether Russia and Belarus can participate in the Paralympics. But it looks really bad that the IPC sends this kind of signal,” Inola said.

The article links to further coverage, including Ukraine’s government denouncing the decision and reactions within the Finnish Paralympic movement, as well as a news brief noting that all restrictions on Russia and Belarus have been lifted by the IPC.