Six participating nations are reportedly set to boycott the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Verona on Friday, 6 March.
Less than a week on from the conclusion of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games, the spotlight will now shift to the Winter Paralympics, which will commence on 6 March.
However, before the Games have even begun, there are concerns about nations potentially boycotting Verona’s opening ceremony.
As reported by BBC Sport on Monday (23 February), Ukraine is among several nations considering a boycott of the ceremony.
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The issue relates to four Belarusian and six Russian athletes being allowed to compete under their nations’ flags.
Russian and Belarusian athletes were previously suspended from competing in Olympic and Paralympic competitions following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The athletes will compete in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding, which are sports not governed by the the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The individual governing bodies for the sports, including the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), have also not lifted their bans, but Russia and Belarus are able to compete after winning an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against FIS’s stance.
The IPC has already stated that it hopes Ukraine attends, despite the nation demanding that its flag is not flown.
Meanwhile, according to France Info, Finland, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Czechia will also boycott the opening ceremony.
The Czech Paralympic Committee confirmed that it would not take part in the ceremony “in any form”.
A statement from the committee read: “Our opinion has remained firm and unchanging from the beginning; we do not agree with the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the Games. We have always been against their return in any form and the representatives of the Czech Paralympic Committee voted accordingly at the General Assembly of the International Paralympic Committee. As long as the aggression in Ukraine continues, Russian and Belarusian athletes have no business at international events.
“Sport is not just about performance, but also about values, which Russian aggression in Ukraine completely denies. We will therefore join the Ukrainian team in boycotting the opening ceremony. This means that our representatives will not be at the opening of the Games in Verona, we will not have flag bearers in Cortina, and we will not film the athletes’ messages that were to be shown at the ceremony.”
IPC president Andrew Parsons addressed the matter and encouraged the boycotting nations to attend the ceremony, while also stating that the governing body “respects” the nations’ stance.
“This decision cannot be overturned by the board or by myself,” Parsons said.
Representatives of the Estonian Paralympic Committee (EPC) provided a similar stance to Ukraine and Czechia, with the body’s head, Alfred Värnik, expressing “Estonia’s solidarity with Ukraine” before describing the nation’s support as “sincere and unwavering”.
The Winter Paralympics will run from 6-15 March.
Luke Davies