IPC president reacts cynically to Ukraine's complaints during Paralympics

Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), has said he is disappointed with complaints made by Ukraine during the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

Source: Associated Press

Details: Parsons claimed that Ukraine's National Paralympic Committee and committees from other countries had tried to shift attention away from sport. Meanwhile, the official noted that he is "super empathetic" with "the situation in Ukraine", saying he could "only try to imagine the horror".

Quote from Parsons: "Yes, I think there was an attempt to always take the focus from sport. And I think at the end, even the other national Paralympic committees responded really well, focusing on sports. I understand, but it is disappointing to some extent. I do hope this is a lesson learned also for those NPCs that have chosen to focus more on the political side than on the sport side, because sport has prevailed."

Background:

• Ukraine's national team and several other countries boycotted the opening and closing ceremonies of the Paralympics due to the participation of Russian and Belarusian delegations competing under their national flags.
• In addition, members of the Ukrainian team reportedly encountered persistent pressure from IPC representatives. The organisers of the 2026 Paralympics also banned Ukrainian athletes from wearing uniforms featuring a map of their country. Ukrainian biathlete Oleksandra Konova was reprimanded for wearing "anti-war" earrings bearing the message "Stop War".

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!