By Julien Pretot and Karolos Grohmann
MILAN, Italy, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Ukrainian competitors will boycott the Milano Cortina Paralympics opening ceremony on March 6 in Verona, their committee said on Friday, due to the authorization of some Russian and Belarusian athletes with their national flags.
The International Paralympic Committee’s allocation of 10 combined slots to Russian and Belarusian athletes has created a political storm over the upcoming Games given bitterness over the four-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
Russia, which has been excluded from much international competition due to the war, says it is wrong to mix sport and politics while targeting disabled athletes is offensive.
“The community of Ukrainian Paralympians and the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine are outraged by the cynical decision of the International Paralympic Committee to grant bipartite slots to russia and belarus (sic),” the Ukrainian committee said in a statement, announcing its boycott of the ceremony and demanding that its flag not be used there.
That stance follows the disqualification from the Winter Games of Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych for wearing a helmet commemorating athletes killed in the war.
IPC TALKS WITH UKRAINIAN COMMITTEE
Ukraine’s Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi has said Ukrainian officials will boycott the March 6-15 Paralympics though the nation’s athletes will still take part.
An IPC spokesperson told Reuters it was in direct contact with Ukraine’s Paralympic Committee and the matter would be discussed internally.
Russia will have two spots in Para alpine skiing, two in cross-country skiing and two in snowboarding while Belarus was awarded four places, all in cross-country skiing.
“We draw attention to the fact that neither russia nor belarus (sic) went through the qualification process to obtain licences to participate in the Paralympic Games in Milano-Cortina,” the Ukrainian statement added, denouncing the “horrific military aggression on the territory of Ukraine.”
In 2014, Ukraine sent only one athlete from a 23-person team to the Sochi Paralympics’ opening ceremony in protest against Russia’s seizure of the Crimean Peninsula.
“It’s very offensive from the IPC to let people who support this war be part of the Games and also to let them carry their flag, because under the same flag they are killing Ukrainians,” skeleton competitor Heraskevych told Reuters, saying protests were necessary.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot and Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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