Host nation Italy slams decision to allow Russians to compete under national flag at Paralympics

It was announced earlier this week that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete their own national flags at the Paralympics

Russian athletes have been given the green light to compete at the Paralympics (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Archive)

Italy has urged the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to reconsider its controversial decision allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags and with anthems at next month’s Milan Cortina Winter Paralympics.

A combined total of ten para-athletes - six from Russia and four from Belarus - have been cleared to compete at the Games.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Sports Minister Andrea Abodi stated that the move was "incompatible with the spirit of the Games" given the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

In a statement released late on Wednesday, the Italian government declared it "categorically disagreed" with the IPC's ruling, which was adopted by its General Assembly in September.

Italy highlighted its alignment with 33 other countries and the European Commission in expressing concerns over the reinstatement.

Antonio Tajani (pictured) hit out at the decision (AP)

Rome has formally requested the IPC to "reconsider this decision," arguing that "the prolonged violations of the ceasefire by Russia, and of Olympic and Paralympic ideals, supported by Belarus, are incompatible with participation except as neutral individual competitors."

The Winter Paralympic Games are scheduled to take place in Italy from 6 to 15 March.

Both nations were initially banned from Paralympic competitions following Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Belarus serving as a key staging area.

However, they regained full membership rights in the IPC after member organisations voted in September 2025 to lift their partial suspensions.

While international federations for individual sports had maintained bans on athletes from these countries, Russia and Belarus successfully appealed against the International Ski and Snowboard Federation at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in December.

This situation contrasts with the ongoing Winter Games, where a limited number of Russian and Belarusian athletes are competing as independent neutral athletes, without national flags or anthems, due to continued sanctions by the International Olympic Committee against their respective Olympic Committees.