TASS: RPC welcomes decision to hand over responsibility to develop blind sport to new federation
The organization positively welcomes the fact that sports federations for people with disabilities are led by athletes, Pavel Rozhkov stressed
Moscow, December 29. /TASS/. The Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) has positively assessed the Russian Ministry of Sport's decision to hand over the authority to develop blind sports to the All-Russian Federation of Blind Sports, founded by Paralympic champions. PCR President Pavel Rozhkov told TASS on Thursday.
"The Russian Paralympic Committee welcomes the decision of the Ministry of Sport to hand over rights and responsibilities for the development of blind sports on the All-Russian Federation of Blind Sports, founded by Paralympic champions and medalists. We welcome the fact that sports federations for people with disabilities are headed by athletes who have achieved outstanding results and have extensive organisational experience. Five-time Paralympic champion Andrey Strokin is the president of the All-Russian Sports Federation for Persons with Physical Disabilities, and Paralympic champion Ivan Potekhin is the president of the All-Russian CP Football Federation," Rozhkov said.
"According to the decision of the Ministry of Sports, the rights and responsibilities for the development of sports for the blind are vested in the All-Russian Federation of Sports for the Blind, headed by the organisation's president, three-time Paralympic champion Olga Semenova. Unfortunately, the work of the Blind Sports Federation, headed by Lydia Abramova, has led to a serious decline in results, athletes failed at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, and training camps in the run-up to the Beijing Games were poorly organised. Within the federation, two reporting and election conferences were held at the same time, electing different presidents of the organisations. Currently there is endless litigation between the elected presidents, which has a negative effect on the organisation," Rozhkov added.
In 2022, Russian Paralympians were supposed to take part in the Beijing Paralympics, but due to the situation in Ukraine, the International Paralympic Committee decided not to allow the Russians to compete.