Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has slammed the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to let Russian athletes compete under their national flag during his major interview with Piers Morgan.
Zelenskyy, speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, claimed it was a “dirty decision” to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to now wear the colours of their nation.
Russian athletes will compete under their own flag at the Paralympics for the first time in more than a decade, and the country’s national anthem will be played for any gold medallists.
In a clip released ahead of the interview, which airs tonight at 8pm on YouTube, Piers asks the Ukrainian President: “I don’t know if you are aware of this but this morning the Winter Paralympics have announced that Russian and Belarusian competitors will be allowed to perform under the flag of their countries, which is obviously not the case in other sporting competitions since the war began. What is your reaction to that decision?”
(Image: Piers Morgan Uncensored)
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Zelenskyy replies: “I don’t want to say that it’s about money because I don’t know. But it’s dirty decisions, absolutely, not respectable. And not European, I mean, from the point of values. I think this is awful decision, absolutely, and not just decision. We will react, I did not know about it.”
The International Paralympic Committee’s move has led to Ukraine’s sports minister announcing a boycott Wednesday of those March 6-15 games by the country’s public officials.
“We will not be present at the opening ceremony. We will not take part in any other official Paralympic events,” sports minister Matvii Bidnyi said in a social media post.
The IPC said Russia’s National Paralympic Committee had been awarded six entry slots for the upcoming Milan Cortina Paralympic Games.
Tuesday’s announcement stands as another indicator that Russia and its national identity will be fully restored in Olympic circles well ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
It will mark the first time a Russian flag has been flown at the Paralympics since the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. The Russian national anthem for a gold medal win has not been heard at any Olympics or Paralympics since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.
The country’s athletes were initially banned because of a state-sponsored doping program, and the sanctions against Russia have continued since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Zelenskyy will also speak on US President Donald Trump and how he would handle a face to face to Putin in the full interview released tonight.
For the full interview watch Piers Morgan Uncensored on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/PiersMorganUncensored