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Seven countries and the British government will boycott the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics in protest at the inclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine would not be sending athletes or officials to the ceremony on Friday night.
Other countries – including Great Britain – have said they will not be sending athletic representation due to the imminent start of competition. The IPC estimates fewer than 60% of the competing countries will send a full delegation to the 2,000-year-old Arena di Verona.
The UK government confirmed there would be no representatives attending the event and reiterated its opposition to Russian athletes competing under their own flag. “We have been clear that the Russian and Belarusian states should not be represented in international sport while the barbaric full-scale invasion of Ukraine is ongoing.” But it did say the minister for sport, Stephanie Peacock, would be in Cortina “purely to support our inspirational ParalympicsGB athletes”.
Andrew Parsons, the president of the IPC, defended the decision to allow Russian athletes to compete under their own flag for the first time since 2014. Russia and Belarus were banned from the 2022 Paralympics after the invasion of Ukraine,. At the same time, there is mounting uncertainty over the participation of countries caught up in the conflict launched by the US and Israel against Iran
“Our clear focus remains on supporting all stakeholders arriving and preparing to deliver the best Paralympic Winter Games,” he said. “We are collaborating with Milano Cortina and ensuring this event continues to serve as a platform to drive social change for the world’s 1.3 billion persons with disability.”
Parsons said the decision taken by the IPC general assembly last September was consistent with democratic principles. “I acknowledge this decision has not been well received in some parts of the world,” he said. “But I want to stress that the IPC is a democratic global organisation whose decisions on member suspension are determined by its members.
“Last September was the third time the general assembly voted on this topic. In 2022, [the result was] full suspension. In 2023, partial suspension, 2025, no suspension. Each time the IPC respected and implemented the decision of our member organisations, as we are bound by our constitution to do so. We cannot pick and choose when to be democratic.”
On the conflict in the Middle East, the IPC has said it will not comment on the risk of countries being unable to compete, but Parsons said “our thoughts are with those affected”.
The IPC, he said, “is closely monitoring the situation and is continuing to collect, confirm and assess the available information to determine the impact on these Games and the wider Paralympic movement. We recognise the situation affects not just the national Paralympic committees competing at the Games but also our wider membership.”
With the Games increasingly constrained by geopolitical crises, Parsons sought to refocus attention on an event that will be the biggest in the history of the Winter Paralympics, and its 50th anniversary.
About 612 athletes from 56 countries are expected to compete, compared with 474 from 38 when the Winter Games was last in Italy, at Torino 2008. Spread from Milan to Cortina, and including events in the municipality of Tesero, it will also be the biggest Paralympic Games in terms of geographic scale.
“This is the only event of global reach that puts persons with disabilities centre stage is the Paralympic Games,” Parsons said. “So this is an important message to the world that if given opportunities, if we remove the barriers, persons with disability can do whatever they want. The games are important to send that message.”
