The Paralympic Committee considers Russia’s participation in the Paralympic Games a democratic decision

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The Paralympic Committee considers Russia’s participation in the Paralympic Games a democratic decision

The International Paralympic Committee said on Friday that it understands the dissatisfaction of several countries after allowing Russian citizens to participate in the 2026 Games Officially, but she stressed that this decision was the result of a vote "democratic" For members of the organization.

The representative of the committee, Craig Spencer, added: "We understand that many countries are dissatisfied with this decision, but it was made within a very democratic process. We have displayed this The decision was made by a vote of all our members, who supported the return of Russia and Belarus"This was after the Czech Republic and Ukraine announced a boycott of the opening ceremony.

The decision to boycott the opening ceremony

Spencer revealed that the Czech Republic and other countries had previously decided not to Sending athletes to the ceremony scheduled in Verona on March 6, given that they will participate in competitions the next day away from this Italian city.
He added "Many countries that did not intend to send any representatives to the ceremony for competition reasons are now claiming it is a boycott"
He also confirmed that the committee had not received any "Official information" From Prague or Kiev regarding a boycott, although the Paralympic committees in both countries issued statements announcing that their delegations would not participate in the ceremony.