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Japan grants entry visas to Russians for 2024 World Para Athletics Championship

The 2024 World Para Athletics Championships for Paralympic track and field athletes is scheduled to be held in Kobe, Japan on May 17-25, 2024

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/. The authorities of Japan granted entry visas for all Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) athletes qualified to take part in the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Japan, RPC President Pavel Rozhkov said on Thursday.

"All Russian athletes and support staff have been granted entry visas to participate in the World Athletics Championships hosted by the International Paralympic Committee in Japan," Rozhkov stated.

"The first group will arrive in the Japanese city of Kobe on May 12, before the start of the competition athletes need to undergo acclimatization and adaptation to the local time," Rozhkov continued.

"Medals will be contested throughout the opening nine days - from May 17 to May 25," he added.

The 2024 World Para Athletics Championships for Paralympic track and field athletes is scheduled to be held in Kobe, Japan on May 17-25, 2024.

The 2024 Summer Paralympic Games will be held in the French capital of Paris between August 28 and September 8.

On March 6, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) published strict eligibility criteria that Russian and Belarusian athletes and support personnel must meet and adhere to in order to participate as neutrals at the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games in Paris.

According to the IPC’s requirements "Neutral athletes will compete under a white flag featuring black lettering spelling out NPA [Neutral Paralympic Athletes]." The IPC also ruled that "NPA will compete as individuals in neutral uniforms under an NPA flag, and will not feature on the medals table or march in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies."

On September 29, 2023, the IPC General Assembly ruled at its session in Bahrain to suspend some of the rights the RPC has within the global organization.

However, the IPC General Assembly cleared Russian athletes to participate under a neutral status in international competition, including in the 2024 Summer Paralympics, which will be held in Paris between August 28 and September 8.

In mid-March this year, RPC President Rozhkov told TASS that Russian Paralympians and accompanying staff would don turquoise and beige at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

"They will wear varying shades of turquoise and beige… In line with the requirements on the neutral status participation of athletes, all national colors are prohibited from being displayed on uniforms and, in our case, this means the white, blue and red colors," Rozhkov said at that time.

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