By Giselda Vagnoni
MILAN, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Olympic hosts Italy called on Thursday for a reversal of the decision to let 10 Russian and Belarusian athletes compete with national flags and anthems at next month’s Paralympic Games.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Sports Minister Andrea Abodi urged the International Paralympic Committee to reconsider its stance due to Russia’s four-year-old invasion of Ukraine, saying it contradicted the Olympic spirit.
The Italian government expressed its “absolute opposition” to the IPC’s ruling in September, they said in a statement late on Wednesday, adding that Rome’s stance echoed that of 33 other countries and the European Commission.
“Russia’s continued violation of the truce and Olympic and Paralympic ideals, supported by Belarus, is incompatible with the participation of their athletes in the Games, except as neutral individual athletes,” the statement said.
Russia’s embassy in Italy said it was unacceptable to target athletes with disabilities. “The harsh and undiplomatic stance taken by the two Italian politicians, backed by the authority of the government they represent, is offensive and deserves widespread condemnation,” it said on Telegram.
A planned press conference by IPC President Andrew Parsons for Friday was cancelled, according to the Olympics media site.
No explanation was given.
WINTER PARALYMPICS START ON MARCH 6
Russia and its ally Belarus, which was used as a staging area for attacking Ukraine, were banned from Paralympic competitions after the 2022 invasion but regained full rights in the IPC in a vote by members last year.
International federations for each sport on the Paralympic Games programme had said they would maintain bans on athletes from those countries, but Russia and Belarus won an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport back in December against the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.
A limited number of Russian and Belarusian athletes are competing as neutral independents without flags or anthems at the ongoing Winter Games with Olympic Committees of both nations still sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee.
An Italian ministerial source denied a report in newspaper La Repubblica suggesting that Tajani might move to block visas for Russians. “The Italian authorities would not take any action to block visas for athletes or their entourage if their participation was confirmed,” the source said.
The Winter Paralympics run from March 6-15.
Ukraine has said it will not send any officials to the Paralympics, while Poland’s Sports Ministry and the European Commissioner for Sport plan to boycott the opening ceremony.
(Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni and Giancarlo Navach in Milan; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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