Ukraine’s athletes have been encouraged not to go ahead with a planned boycott of the Winter Paralympics opening ceremony.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) says it hopes Ukraine will take part, but at present the team intend to stay away in protest against Russian and Belarusian athletes being allowed to compete under their national flags.
It was announced last week that six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will take part in the Milan-Cortina Games.
They are set to compete in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding, with the opening ceremony taking place on 6 March in Verona.
Russia and Belarus had previously been suspended from Paralympic competition. That followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Belarus considered a close ally.
The Ukraine team stated that they would not take part in the opening ceremony following confirmation of Russia and Belarus being involved, and made a “demand that the Ukrainian flag not be used”.
The Czech Paralympic Committee also announced it would not take part in the opening ceremony “in any form”.
“This decision cannot be overturned by the board or by myself,” said IPC president Andrew Parsons, referring to the return of Russia and Belarus.
Regarding Ukraine’s stance, Parsons said: “We have a message to give that is one of inclusion and diversity. We encourage them to participate, but if they don’t want to, we respect that.”
Asked if he was concerned that more nations may withdraw from the ceremony, Parsons said: “What I’m afraid of is that sometimes these situations can be politicised.”
