Seven countries boycott Paralympics opening ceremony in protest of controversial decision

The Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics will kick off later today with an action-packed opening ceremony, but viewers will notice that the event is missing a number of its usual participants.

That is because seven countries are boycotting the Winter Games' opening night at the 2000-year-old Arena di Verona, which will champion 'social and cultural change through artistic expression' including the 'promotion of universal values such as inclusion, resilience, respect, solidarity, and passion for sport.'

But competitors and governement officials from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine will not be at the opening ceremony to protest a controversial decision made by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

They ruled that six Russian and four Belarusian athletes could compete under their own flag at this year's Paralympics, unlike at last month's Winter Olympics where they were forced to participate as neutral competitors.

Russians will be able to compete under their own flag at the Milan-Cortina Paralympics (Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

This is despite Russian and Belarussian troops occupying Ukrainian territory and launching devastating attacks which have killed over 56,000 civilians since the Kremlin launched the war of aggression in 2022.

A few other countries, including the UK, will not be sending their athletes either to the opening ceremony, though they have not directly stated that this is due to Russia's participation in the games.

It is estimated that less than 60 percent of the countries taking part in the Paralympics will even be sending their usual delegation of athletes and officials to this year's opening ceremony as a result.

Team GB have, however, blasted the IPC's decision to include athletes under the Russian flag at this year's Winter Paralympics, for the first time since Russia occupied Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and kicked off a separatist war in the Donbas.

A UK Government spokesperson said: "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."

Years of war have devastated Ukraine's civilian population (Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The President of the IPC, Andrew Parsons, said that the committee's focus was on delivering the Winter Games and driving 'social change for the world’s 1.3 billion persons with disability'.

He added: “I acknowledge this decision has not been well received in some parts of the world. But I want to stress that the IPC is a democratic global organisation whose decisions on member suspension are determined by its members."

Parsons said that the move was part of the democratic process which takes place with all member nations before each summer and winter Olympics. “Last September was the third time the general assembly voted on this topic. In 2022, [the result was] full suspension. In 2023, partial suspension, 2025, no suspension."

He added: "We cannot pick and choose when to be democratic.”

The IPC president also said that the focus of the games should be on the social message behind the Paralympics, arguing: “This is the only event of global reach that puts persons with disabilities centre stage is the Paralympic Games.

“So this is an important message to the world that if given opportunities, if we remove the barriers, persons with disability can do whatever they want. The games are important to send that message.”