Poland joins list of nations to boycott | Sports News

Poland has change into the newest nation to announce it is going to boycott the Winter Paralympics opening ceremony in protest of Russia’s involvement within the competitors.

However, some Russian athletes have been allowed to compete beneath the Olympic and Paralympic flags as impartial opponents – a designation additionally given to Belarusian athletes, who confronted comparable restrictions.

“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 mentioned in a assertion.

This comes after earlier declarations from Ukrainian and European Union officers asserting their own boycotts. International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence confirmed to Inside the Games that 10 Russian and Belarusian athletes have secured spots at this 12 months’s video games.

Those athletes, six from Russia and 4 from Belarus, will reportedly be handled the identical as opponents from every other nation. Ukrainian officers had beforehand introduced plans to boycott after studying that the Russian flag could be on show.

Matyii Bidvnyi, the nation’s Minister of Youth and Sports, issued a assertion on social media outlining the rationale. “In response to the @Paralympics organizers’ 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 is not going to participate in every other official Paralympic occasions. We thank each official from the free world who will do the identical. We will keep combating!”

European Union sports commissioner Glen Micallef has also declared his plans to boycott the event, condemning the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags.

“I stand with the Paralympians and all the pieces they symbolize. However, first permitting Russia and Belarus to return and now granting a wild card and fast-tracking participation with out qualification? This is unacceptable,” he wrote in a statement.

“While Russia’s struggle of aggression in opposition to Ukraine continues, I can’t assist the reinstatement of national symbols, flags, anthems and uniforms, which might be inseparable from that battle. For this motive, I can’t 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.”