Ukrainian Paralympians barred from wearing ‘political’ uniform
Ukraine’s national team has been forced to urgently replace its ceremonial uniforms for the Winter Paralympics in Italy after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) rejected a design featuring a map of the country based on Kiev’s territorial claims.
The uniform design featured a map that included former Ukrainian territories that have formally voted to be become part of Russia, namely Crimea – which rejoined Russia in 2014 following a public referendum – as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, which voted to cede from Ukraine and join Russia in 2022.
On Monday, Valery Sushkevich, the president of Ukraine’s National Paralympic Committee, told the media that the IPC said the uniform design was “political and that no one would allow us to go out in it.”
The IPC confirmed the decision, citing its rules prohibiting political messages. “According to the IPC rules on uniforms for the Paralympic Games, texts of national anthems, motivational words, public/political messages or slogans related to national identity are prohibited,” IPC Public Relations Director Craig Spence said, noting that “the country’s map falls under this category.”
The incident follows a similar controversy at the recent Winter Olympics, where Ukrainian skeleton pilot Vladislav Geraskevich was disqualified for refusing to remove a helmet adorned with images of athletes killed in the conflict with Russia.
Meanwhile, Russian athletes will be allowed to compete at the Paralympic Winter Games under their national flag for the first time since 2014, after the IPC granted them limited slots for the Milano Cortina 2026 event.
The athletes will be “treated like [those from] any other country,” the IPC said last month.
Ukraine, as well as the EU’s sports commissioner and several other nations including Latvia, Poland, Estonia, and Canada, responded to the move by announcing a boycott of the Paralympics opening ceremony.
Moscow has long accused Western nations of pressuring federations to ban Russian athletes for political reasons, criticizing international sports bodies for “politicizing” sports.
