London, May 23 (IANS): The Governing Board of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has unanimously decided to maintain the suspension of the Russian Paralympic Committee's (RPC) membership, IPC President Philip Craven has said.
"The IPC Governing Board unanimously decided to maintain the suspension of the Russian Paralympic Committee," Craven said on Monday, reports Tass news agency.
"The IPC suspended the RPC last August due to Professor (Richard) McLaren's findings, findings that shocked the Paralympic Movement and findings that highlighted that the RPC was unable to fulfil its IPC membership obligations and particularly its obligation to comply with the IPC Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Code," he added.
Russian athletes may not be allowed to compete in the 2018 Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang if RPC fails to fulfill the reinstatement criteria by early September, he went on.
"Although we are pleased with the progress to date, a number of key criteria still need to be met. At the moment there are a lot of good plans with timelines on paper but we now need to see plans in action and delivering concrete results," Craven said.
"The IPC Taskforce will next update the IPC Governing Board in September and if the obligations have not been fully met by then, it will be very difficult for the RPC to have its suspension lifted in time to enter its athletes into the Paralympic Winter Games," he added.
"As IPC President I want to get this situation resolved as quickly as possible. Russia is a great sporting nation and the Paralympic Movement would like to see Russia back competing as soon as it can prove it has met the reinstatement criteria in full."
He pointed out that the IPC was committed to this situation. "Our mind is set currently on doing all we can to have the RPC at Pyeongchang 2018," the IPC president stressed.
On August 7, 2016, the IPC suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee and barred the entire Russian team from the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro.
The McLaren-led commission claimed in particular that a total of 35 doping samples had been concealed by RPC between 2012 and 2015.