Winter Paralympics 2026: IOC president says injured Russian soldiers will be allowed to participate in future games

The comprehensive ban imposed on Russian and Belarusian athletes in 2022 has been reduced to a partial ban in 2023, allowing athletes from both countries to compete as neutrals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

In September 2025, the International Paralympic Committee lifted this ban completely, but the four governing bodies responsible for the six sports contested at the Winter Paralympics decided to keep the ban in place.

In December, Russia and Belarus won their appeal against the Islamic Ski Front – the governing body for skiing and snowboarding – before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, allowing athletes in those sports to compete and collect classification points.

As a result, 10 athletes were awarded invitations from a dual committee to compete in the Winter Paralympics.

Dual committee invitations are given to individual athletes, rather than their respective international federation, and allow the participation of top athletes “who may not have had the opportunity to qualify through other routes due to exceptional circumstances”, among other factors.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the decision as “appalling” while the country’s Sports Minister Matvey Bedny said it was “disappointing and infuriating”.

“The General Assembly lifted the suspension in September, so we need to respect the democracy of our movement,” Parsons said. “The majority voted this way, so we need to implement their decision.”

“But I completely understand the disappointment, and I understand the different opinions, esp [those] Coming from Ukraine.”

In response to a question about what he would tell Ukrainian athletes, he said: “My message to them is that the best way to show Ukraine’s strength is on the field, by winning medals and making sure the national anthem is played as many times as possible on Italian soil.”

In addition to Ukraine, teams from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland boycotted the opening ceremony on Friday in Verona in protest against the decision.

Officials from other countries, including the British government, will not attend for the same reason.

The Great Britain team will also not be going to the Verona ceremony, but for logistical reasons – a decision that was made some time ago.

Several members of the 25-strong British team, including flag bearers Mina Fitzpatrick and Scott Minaj, are taking part in the competition on Saturday morning, several hours’ drive from Verona.

Russian and Belarusian athletes will attend the opening ceremony.

“Different countries, national Paralympic committees, governments and athletes have been able to express their opinions freely, and that is what we stand for as a democratic organisation,” Parsons said.

“We would like the focus to be more on sports rather than politics and that is what we are trying to do.”