Moscow, Feb 19 (EFE).- The Kremlin defended today the participation of its Paralympic athletes with flag and anthem in the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, which has caused great discomfort to the Ukrainian authorities and the protest of the European Union (EU) Sports Commissioner.
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“We believe that all athletes, Olympic and Paralympic, should have the right to participate freely in international competitions, even more so in the Olympics and Paralympics with the flag of their countries,” said Dmitry Peskov, presidential spokesman, in his daily telephone press conference.
Peskov, who is married to a former Olympic figure skating champion, stressed that “this is a sporting competition, not political.”
“Our position is known. We believe that in general sport should never be a victim of politics. Sport should be, precisely, free from politics,” he pointed out.
Instead, he added, the Ukrainian authorities advocate “totally the opposite”.
The Ukrainian Protest
In protest,
Ukrainian leaders announced that they will not attend the Paralympic Games to be held from March 6 to 15.
“In response to the outrageous decision by the organizers of the Paralympics to allow Russians and Belarusians to compete with their national flags, Ukrainian public representatives will not attend the Paralympic Games,” Ukrainian Sports Minister Matvii Bidnyi said on his X social media account.
The General Assembly of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) lifted the partial suspension of Belarus and Russia half a year ago, a decision that allowed athletes from both countries to compete in the Milan Cortina Paralympic Games.
Boycott of the EU Commissioner
Shortly before, the European Commissioner for Sports, Glenn Micallef, had announced that he would also not attend the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games as a protest.
The IPC confirmed this week that six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will participate in Italy, competing under their flags in para alpine skiing, para cross-country skiing and para snowboarding.
It will be the first time that Russian Olympic or Paralympic athletes compete with a flag and anthem since the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
From then until the beginning of the war in 2022, the reason for the sanction was the state doping that Russia was denounced for by international sports authorities.
