Team Ukraine have launched a stinging attack on the International Paralympic Committee and Winter Paralympics organisers, claiming they have been under “systemic pressure” to reduce their presence at the Games.
The Ukraine National Paralympic Committee has made four specific allegations against the IPC and the Milano Cortina OCOG, alleging mistreatment of their athletes and a “systematic” attempt to remove flags from the team base and spectators.
They allege that representatives of OCOG forced the removal of the Ukrainian national flag from outside the team headquarters. They also claim that their gold medallist in the para biathlon, Oleksandra Kononova, was told to remove earrings bearing the national flag and the message “Stop War” as she prepared to take to the medal podium. They claim the family of cross-country skier Taras Rad had Ukrainian flags taken from them as they watched him compete. Finally, they allege that they have had tactical meetings consistently disrupted by members of the OCOG and IPC.
“The National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine and the national Paralympic team of Ukraine, its athletes, and coaches have been subjected to systematic pressure from representatives of the International Paralympic Committee and the Organising Committee of the Games,” the statement read.
“[Ukraine] has participated for 30 consecutive years in all Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. But never before have our team and the leaders of the team headquarters experienced such openly negative manifestations and even obstacles in relation to Ukrainians as representatives of the National Paralympic Committee…
“There are systemic and unprecedented manifestations of pressure from representatives of the IPC in relation to the Ukrainian team,” the statement read. “Obviously, there appears the impression of an incomprehensible and very special partnership of the IPC with the NPCs of Russia and Belarus.”
The IPC and OCOG have been approached for comment.
Ukraine have won 10 medals at these Games, including three golds, though they have slipped down the table in recent days. On Wednesday the Ukrainian cross-country skier Romana Lobasheva was in direct competition with the Russian Anastasiia Bagiian who received one of six “bipartite” invitations from the IPC to compete at these games. Bagiian won gold in the visually impaired 10km interval start classic, while Lobasheva finished in ninth place.
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