The Ukrainian Paralympic team has declared systematic pressure from the International Paralympic Committee

The National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine announced systematic pressure on athletes and coaches from representatives of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Organizing Committee of the Games.

This is stated in the committeeʼs statement.

They noted that since the start of this yearʼs Paralympics, athletes and coaches have been faced with "clearly negative manifestations" and restrictions that have never been seen before in the teamʼs 30 years of participation in the Paralympics.

The committee added that they tried to avoid “a radical reaction to the aforementioned manifestations of this pressure, hoping that they are random in nature and do not have a biased direction towards the Ukrainian team”. But recent events have shown that these manifestations are systematic and “take on a critical and shameful character towards both the team and its members”.

The National Paralympic Committee cites several cases as examples. In particular, recently the organizing committee forced the flag to be removed from the house where the Ukrainian team was staying and hung in a less visible place.

In addition, representatives of the organizing committee tried every day to ban short evening team meetings in the common hall of the building.

During the award ceremony, champion Oleksandra Kononova was forced to remove her earrings with the inscription Stop War. But the team was especially struck by the "cynical and illegal behavior" towards the family of Paralympian Taras Rad, who was the first to win gold for Ukraine this year.

Ukrainian flags and scarves with national ornaments were taken from the athleteʼs family, who came from the Ternopil region, in the stands. IPC explained that this allegedly contradicted their rules.

The Ukrainian Paralympic Committee states that such actions are unprecedented and may indicate the special loyalty of the IPC leadership to the Paralympic Committees of Russia and Belarus, which this year, for the first time since 2014, performed under their flags at the Paralympics in Italy.

"The National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine demands that the IPC leadership begin the process of returning to the provisions of the IPC Constitution and, in accordance with them, coordinate the activities of the IPC executive bodies during the implementation of their functions at the XIV Winter Paralympic Games," the National Committee emphasized.

• Earlier, the president of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine said that the International Paralympic Committee also banned Ukrainian Paralympians from wearing a ceremonial uniform with a globalized map of Ukraine.

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