Eight countries have announced they will boycott the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, in protest against allowing Russian athletes to compete under their country's flag for the first time since 2014, organizers said Thursday.

Published on: 05/03/2026 - 22:04 Last updated: 06/03/2026 - 09:35

Eight countries will boycott the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina in protest against allowing Russian athletes to participate under their country's flag.

The International Paralympic Committee announced last month that it would allow six Russian and four Belarusian athletes to participate in the Games under their countries' flags, rather than as neutral athletes.

Russia and Belarus were banned from participating in the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympics following the invasion of Ukraine, while their athletes were allowed to participate as neutrals in the Summer Paralympics in Paris two years later.

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Following the International Paralympic Committee's statement, several countries, including Ukraine, announced their boycott of the opening ceremony scheduled for Friday in Verona.

“National Paralympic committees decided not to participate for political reasons.”

In this context, Craig Spence, communications officer at the International Paralympic Committee, said during a press conference held in Cortina: “Over the past ten days, you may have noticed news about some National Paralympic Committees that have decided not to participate for political reasons, and reports have been received in varying numbers.”

The Paralympic official also said: “I have seen numbers between 7 and 15. So let me be very clear about the national Paralympic committees that will not attend for political reasons.” He continued: “We have Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine.” Spence stressed that the International Paralympic Committee “respects this decision” to boycott the ceremony.

Britain joined the boycotting countries after its government announced a boycott of the opening and closing ceremonies of the session. A government spokesman said: “We strongly oppose the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their respective flags at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games.”

Read also: Ukraine boycotts the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics due to Russian participation under their national flag

Since the opening ceremony will be held far from the cities hosting the competitions, which are Cortina, Val di Femme, and Milan, the International Paralympic Committee indicated that other countries will not participate with athletes in the ceremony, but stressed that this is due to its decision to “give priority to sports performance.”

Spence also explained that "Canada, Germany and France will not be boycotting the concert. They have told us that they will not attend for performance reasons."

With several events, including alpine skiing two days away, many athletes have chosen to stay close to their bases.

France 24 / AFP

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