The paper examined the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 on the Olympic and Paralympic Movements, focusing on the issues regarding political neutrality. It mainly discussed the following five issues.

First, there is no consensus among the international community, including the athlete community, about what is meant by "political neutrality" as defined in the IOC Charter and IPC Constitution. The IOC's official statements indicate that they believe they can maintain political neutrality by refraining from banning individual Russian and Belarusian athletes based on their countries’ actions. On the other hand, Ukraine and Western countries do not deny the political nature of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Rather, they point out that sport and politics are closely intertwined, especially in Russia and Belarus, and question the nature of "neutral athletes," noting the strong links and affiliations between Russian athletes and the Russian military. It is difficult to bridge the gap between these perceptions.

Second, athletes have recently become more active in expressing their opinions about issues of social justice, and they may influence the decisions made by the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees and International Federations regarding the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport in international competitions. There is a possibility that at the Paris 2024 Games, political opinions such as anti-war and opposition to the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes will be expressed by the athletes.

Third is the difference in stance between the IPC and the IOC. As of June 2023, the IPC’s decision not to accept athlete entries from NPC Russia and NPC Belarus in World Para Sports competitions remains in place. Depending on the outcome of the IPC General Assembly meeting scheduled for September, the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Paris may differ significantly.

Fourth, the political nature of the Paralympic Games has become apparent. At the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games, the Ukrainian national team expressed political opinions to the extent that they did not violate the IPC Constitution. In Russia, after the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Paralympic Committee has been active in supporting servicemen wounded in the fighting in Ukraine. In other words, in both Russia and Ukraine, the worsening situation in the Russo-Ukrainian War since February 2022 has further strengthened the ties between the Paralympics and the military.

Finally, the international division over the Olympics and Paralympics has the potential to fragment the international sports movement itself. Russia has already held some international sporting events by inviting friendly countries. The division is likely to deepen as the Putin administration seeks to invite the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the BRICS to host large-scale international competitions that would serve as alternatives to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Paralympic Games and Olympic Games, which advocate universal values such as world peace, will now be directly affected by international political conflicts in a way that has not been seen since the end of the Cold War.

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National Federations (NFs), which are sports umbrella organizations, are important in the promotion of sports in a country, as they are responsible for the development of athletes and the promotion of sports at the grassroots level. Therefore, public financial support is provided to NFs. In recent years, however, NFs have been encouraged to acquire financial resources without relying on public funds to sustain their operations. The debate on the financial independence of NFs also applies to Paralympic sports organizations. In order for Paralympic NFs to engage in domestic and international promotion programs and in athlete training programs in a sustainable way, they will be required to accurately assess their current financial situation and implement strategic management measures.

To ascertain the actual financial situation of Paralympic NFs, this study analyzed the income and expenditure accounts based on publicly available financial statements. In addition to providing an overview of the trend of the financial situation, the study focused on the independent revenue raised by the NFs themselves, which have been discussed in terms of financial independence, and examined the relationship between independent revenue and the scale of the NFs’ operations. The term “independent revenue” here refers to the amount obtained by subtracting subsidies, grants, etc. from ordinary revenues.

The survey covered Japanese NFs of summer Paralympic sports. Organizations that have been integrated with NFs for abled-bodied people were excluded, and 23 NFs were examined.

Data on revenues and expenditures were collected from financial reports of the NFs for fiscal years 2017 through 2021, all of which showed a steady increase until FY 2019. A downward trend began in FY 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In each year, there was a difference between the average of all NFs’ revenues and expenditures and the average when excluding the NF with the largest figures, indicating that very few NFs were pushing up the overall revenue and expenditure amounts.

In addition, correlation analysis was conducted between the amount of ordinary revenue and independent revenue, as well as between the total expenditures and operating expenses, and both showed positive correlations. These results showed that the larger the amount of ordinary revenue, the greater the amount of independent revenue secured, and the larger the amount of expenditures, the higher the operating expenses.

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This research note, based on “Report of the Japan Team” who have participated in recent Deaflympic Games, explores the problems and issues that have been identified by athletes, coaches, staff members as well as sign language interpreters.

The results of the analysis revealed that the low level of awareness of the Deaflympics in Japanese society and the problem of communication among the relevant parties are key issues.

As the Deaflympic Games grow in size and the social attention rises, to what extent the Games can be operated primarily by deaf people themselves could be another important agenda in the future.

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The previous research examined the universities’ 2022 syllabus （information including course contents, etc.） that was open to the public, to clarify the implementation of Paralympic and para-sports education at national teacher training universities. The aim of the research was to identify opportunities for students who may become elementary and secondary school teachers, to attend classes on understanding inclusive society through Paralympic and para-sports education.

In the research, syllabus data was extracted through relevant key words, which provided an overview of the overall trend, and quantitative analysis was conducted on the extracted data. This was followed by a qualitative analysis of actual classes selected from the four “Teacher Training Flagship Universities” （Tokyo Gakugei University, University of Fukui, Osaka Kyoiku University, and Hyogo University of Teacher Education）, which are considered to be conducting pioneering education, as well as Hokkaido University of Education, which had the largest number of Paralympic and para-sports related classes. The analysis identified and reviewed relevant class titles, faculty members, their　job division and fields of study among other aspects.

To supplement the earlier qualitative research, this study will focus on the programs at Tokyo Gakugei University and Hokkaido University of Education, both of which had many Paralympics and Olympics-related classes.

It can be assumed that as a “Teacher Training Flagship University,” classes at Tokyo Gakugei University are designed by the management level of the university. This is because classes are being reviewed and redesigned as a whole in order to apply to be selected as a Teacher Training Flagship University. Based on this, an interview was conducted with a person in charge of the application, research, and education. On the other hand, at Hokkaido University of Education, an interview was conducted with a person who is engaged in classes at a practical level.

From the results of the interviews, both universities were making a considerable effort to enhance the contents of classes both at the management level and at the practical level. In addition, teacher training education was being implemented to maintain and promote inclusive education and special support education. Although both universities are very positively engaged in university education, budgetary constraints are assumed to be high. Therefore, they are making creative efforts to maintain the number of classes and facilities.

The results of the previous research showed that enrollment capacity is a key factor in maintaining a large number of classes, or in other words diverse classes, and both schools examined this time supported this finding through their high enrollment capacity and a high level of commitment. Considering the above, smaller universities may face difficulties in ensuring diverse classes and in promoting practical inclusive education. Radical measures from a macro perspective will be essential.

Finally, limitations of this study are as follows. First, because the study was conducted only at Tokyo Gakugei University and Hokkaido University of Education, it was not possible to ascertain overall trends in Paralympic and para-sports education at national teacher training universities. Second, we have not conducted a similar study of private universities. It is assumed that there are marked differences in approaches among private universities due to the dynamic nature of their management and the fact that some of them have ample funds. We will continue to study the situation.

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