Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been banned from competing in the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics, writes mirror.co.uk.

On Wednesday, the International Paralympic Committee [IPC] came under fierce criticism after announcing competitors from both nations would be permitted to take part, albeit under a neutral banner. Andrew Parsons, IPC President, initially stated “What we have decided upon is the harshest possible punishment we can hand down within our constitution and the current IPC rules”.

It was ruled the teams would compete as the RPC [Russian Paralympic Committee] and NPC [National Paralympic Committee] Belarus. Individual athletes could compete for medals, although neither team would be included in the overall table.

However, the decision was widely vilified, with Ukrainian athletes issuing a joint statement accusing Paralympic bosses of "choosing bloodshed over principle."

Sure enough, on Thursday, Parsons revealed that the organization had performed a u-turn. He has announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes can"t now compete at the Beijing Paralympics. Parsons said the authority had now moved in “order to preserve the integrity of these Games”, and apologized to the athletes affected.