Winter Paralympics chaos as new country joins EU boycott after UK response
The International Paralympics Committee has sparked chaos with a decision made ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2026 games
Poland has become the latest country to announce plans to boycott the Winter Paralympics opening ceremony in protest at Russia’s involvement in the competition. Russian athletes have been told they can compete under their country’s flag at the games, the first time this has been allowed since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s suspension came into effect in 2023 and was separate to a ban put in place ahead of the 2020 games in relation to doping offences. However, selected Russian athletes have been allowed to compete under the Olympic flag as neutral athletes – as have Belarusian athletes, who were also subject to a ban.
“In the face of the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine, the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in a sports competition using their flags and anthems is absolutely unacceptable,” Poland’s Ministry of Sports and Tourism said in a statement. It follows separate statements from Ukrainian and European Union officials outlining individual boycotts.
International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence confirmed to Inside the Games that 10 Russian and Belarusian athletes have places at this year’s games. The members of that cohort, six from Russia and four from Belarus, will reportedly get the same treatment as athletes from any other country.
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Ukrainian officials had already announced a planned boycott after it emerged that the Russian flag would be present. Matyii Bidvnyi, the country’s Minister of Youth and Sports, put out a statement on social media shedding light on the decision.
“In response to the @Paralympics organisers’ outrageous decision to let Russians and Belarusians compete under their national flags, Ukrainian public officials will not attend the Paralympic Games,” Bidvnyi wrote. “We will not be present at the opening ceremony.
“We will not take part in any other official Paralympic events. We thank every official from the free world who will do the same. We will keep fighting!”
The European Union sports commissioner Glen Micallef has also confirmed plans to boycott the event, taking aim at the decision to let Russian and Belarusian athletes to fly their countries’ flags. “I stand with the Paralympians and everything they represent. However, first allowing Russia and Belarus to return and now granting a wild card and fast-tracking participation without qualification? This is unacceptable,” he wrote in a statement.
“While Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues, I cannot support the reinstatement of national symbols, flags, anthems and uniforms, that are inseparable from that conflict. For this reason, I will not attend the @Paralympics Opening Ceremony.
“I do so with respect for the athletes but with clarity about the principles at stake. Sport unites when it stands on principle. It divides when it compromises them. I call on my likeminded counterparts to take the same stand.”
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In the UK, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has described the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their nations’ flags as “terrible” although stopped short of announcing a UK boycott of any kind. Those previously cleared to compete in Milan and Cortina in the Winter Olympics had to prove they had no military connections and had not supported the country’s war in Ukraine.
“This is completely the wrong decision,” Nandy wrote on X. “Allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flags while the brutal invasion of Ukraine continues sends a terrible message. The International Paralympic Committee should reconsider this decision urgently.”
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The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games is running from February 6-22 and fans can enjoy more than 850 hours of action live on discovery+ via Prime Video.
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