London, March 5, (PA Media/dpa/GNA) – The British government will boycott the Winter Paralympics opening and closing ceremonies, in protest at Russian and Belarusian athletes, being permitted to compete under their own flags.
Six athletes from Russia and four from Belarus will be directly representing their countries, rather than competing as neutrals at the Games in Milano-Cortina.
That followed the lifting of a partial ban by the International Paralympics Committee (IPC), and a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by Russia and Belarus against a ban imposed by FIS, the global governing body for skiing and snowboarding.
Russia has been in the international sporting wilderness since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with this inclusion at the Paralympics the most significant step back since then.
Ukraine and other nations had already indicated their intention to boycott the opening and closing ceremonies, and now the UK has joined them.
A British government spokesperson said: “We strongly oppose the decision of the International Paralympic Committee to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their own flags at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.
“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.
“Therefore, no government ministers or officials will attend the opening or closing ceremonies of the Paralympics.”
The UK government statement added that Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock, would be in Cortina purely to support British athletes.
“They have worked tirelessly over the last four years to be ready for the biggest moment of their sporting lives and deserve to have the nation behind them,” the statement
GNA