First Deputy Chairman of the state Duma Committee on physical culture, sports, tourism and Affairs of youth Vyacheslav Fetisov and the Deputy Chairman of the state Duma Committee on physical culture, sport, tourism and youth Affairs Valery Gazzaev (left to right)

© Alexander Shalgina/press service of the state Duma of the Russian Federation/TASS

MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. Parliamentary delegation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation will hold on Friday in the German Bonn meeting with the leadership of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The parliamentarians, headed by Vyacheslav Fetisov will discuss the reinstatement of the Russian Paralympic Committee at the IPC.

The delegation included first Deputy Chairman of state Duma Committee on physical culture, sports, tourism and Affairs of youth Vyacheslav Fetisov, the Chairman of the Committee Valery Gazzaev and Vice President of RCC, the Deputy of the lower chamber Oleg Smolin . Among the invited German side was also the head of the Duma Committee on physical culture, sport, tourism and youth Affairs Mikhail Degtyarev and Vice-speaker Igor Lebedev, but they are in the sanctions list and were refused entry to Germany.

According to Degtyareva, the main issue of the meeting in the headquarters of the IPC in Bonn will be to coordinate measures to restore the accreditation of the Russian Paralympic Committee at the IPC and, accordingly, the provision of opportunities for the participation of the Russian Paralympic winter Games in 2018 in South Korea’s Pyeongchang. Following the talks, expected to agree on specific steps, including the signing of a joint communiqué with the IASC on the removal of a number of contradicting Russian legislation requirements on the part of the organization to RCC.

Degtyarev also said that recently held meeting with participation of the President of PKR, Vladimir Lukin and first Vice – President Pavel Rozhkov RCC to develop a common position of the Russian delegation at the talks with the leadership of the IPC.

Valery Gazzaev hopes for a positive outcome of the forthcoming visit. “I am confident that the meeting of the state Duma delegation with the leadership of the IPC is the first step towards restoration of rights of the Russian Paralympians,” said Gazzaev. The MP believes that the invitation of the leadership of the IPC is “a good signal for the Paralympic movement in Russia and for the world of sports”.

The international Paralympic Committee in August last year following the investigation of the facts of the report of the independent Commission of the world anti-doping Agency under the leadership of Richard McLaren announced the suspension of membership in the RCC organization and the banning of all Russian athletes for the Paralympics in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. In November, IPC announced the list of criteria for restoration of RCC membership, but at the end of January refused at the request of the RCC to allow Russian athletes to participate in qualifying for the Paralympic games in 2018.