As the Olympic Games have begun in Rio, the International Paralympic Committee has announced that it has suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee due to concerns over a state-backed doping scheme. As a result, the Russian team will not be permitted to compete in this year’s Paralympics in September.

The IPC began its suspension proceedings shortly after the release of the McLaren Report at the end of July. The report uncovered a state-sponsored doping scheme following the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The report included evidence that the doping scheme extended to the Russian Paralympic team.

Unlike the International Olympic committee, which decided to leave the decision to the individual sports federations, the IPC announced that it had decided unanimously to suspend the Russian Paralympic Committee "due to its inability to fulfill its IPC membership responsibilities and obligations." As a result, the team has been banned from participating in the upcoming games, which are set to begin on September 8th in Rio.

The Committee will have until August 28th to appeal the decision. In the meantime, the IPC will now look to fill the 267 slots formerly occupied by Russian para athletes can be filled by other competitors. It will begin to formulate a plan for the Russian committee to rejoin the organization. The ban will be lifted once the IPC’s governing board determines that they can once again fulfill the organizations’ requirements.