Pyeongchang 2018: Russia to find out Winter Paralympics ban decision

The 2018 Winter Paralympics will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea

A final decision on whether Russia can compete at the 2018 Winter Paralympics will be announced on Monday by the International Paralympic Committee.

Russia was banned from all Paralympic competition by the IPC in August 2016 after revelations of systematic doping.

The IPC governing board reached a decision after a meeting in Germany at the weekend.

Last month, they said there were still five key measures to be met before Russia's reinstatement.

The Winter Paralympics begin in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Friday, 9 March.

In December 2016, the IPC created an independent taskforce which set the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) a number of conditions that must be met before their athletes can return to competitive disability sport events run by the IPC.

In September, the taskforce highlighted seven key measures that needed to be met before it is able to recommend the reinstatement of the RPC, and in December said five had still not been satisfied.

The five key measures are:

• The approval of the RPC's constitution by the IPC membership department.

• Completion of all budget-related aspects of the reinstatement criteria.

• The provision and confirmation of certain additional information by the RPC regarding personnel and governance (reinstatement criteria 10 and 14.2), as specified by the taskforce.

• The full reinstatement of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

• The provision of an official response specifically and adequately addressing the findings made by Professor McLaren.

In the interim period, in order to allow qualified athletes take part in the Games should the suspension be lifted, Russian athletes have been able to compete as neutrals in qualification events across four sports - alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing and snowboard.

The deadline for athlete entries for the Games is 23 February.

In December, IPC president Andrew Parsons said although the governing board was impressed at the level of co-operation and progress made by the RPC, the decision to maintain the suspension was a united one.

"The RPC is making headway with the IPC on three of the five remaining reinstatement criteria, however sadly, and much to our growing disappointment and frustration, there is a lack of progress regarding an official response from the Russian authorities specifically and adequately addressing the McLaren findings and evidence." he said.