IPC president accuses Ukraine of shifting focus to politics after reported pressure
International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons accused Ukraine and other national committees of trying to shift attention “from sport to politics” by publicly complaining about pressure from the IPC, he told the Associated Press.
Parsons said he is “super empathetic” with the situation in Ukraine and can “only try to imagine the horror,” but stressed that the IPC, as a sports organization, must ensure rules are followed even by the Ukrainian committee.
He described the public statements as a “disappointment” and an attempt to divert focus from sport to politics.
“At the end, even the other national Paralympic committees responded really well, focusing on sports. I understand, but it is disappointing to some extent,” he added.
He expressed hope that it would serve as a lesson for committees that chose to emphasize politics over sport, “because sport has prevailed.”
Parsons defended allowing Russian athletes to compete under their own flag, saying it helps fulfill the IPC’s mission of creating a more inclusive world through Paralympic sport rather than external politics.
He noted that while some voices continued trying to focus on issues the IPC believes should not be central to the Games, the overall impression — especially among television viewers and media followers — was that attention centered more on athletes, sport and records than on politics.
“There was still some voices out there trying to continue focusing on what, in our opinion, should not be the focus of these games, but I think the overall impression of the people, especially people at home watching on TV or following the media, following the news, is (the focus) was more on athletes, more on sport, records, than in politics,” he said.
Ukraine’s National Paralympic Committee President Valerii Sushkevych responded to Parsons in comments to the AP on Sunday, saying calls for peace and an end to the war are not political statements but “a human rights issue.”
“If people in the world want to live in peace, it’s human rights, it’s not political,” he said.
He accused the IPC of turning the opening and closing ceremonies into a political event by allowing participation from a country “that cannot be present here” due to its occupation of Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine’s national team fully boycotted the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Paralympics due to the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes; representatives from 15 other countries also stayed away. The team later decided to skip the closing ceremony as well.
The Ukrainian NPC also reported systematic pressure on athletes and coaches by IPC and organizing committee representatives, including demands to remove the Ukrainian flag from the team’s residence building, interruptions of planned team meetings, and a ban on a Ukrainian athlete wearing Stop War earrings during an awards ceremony.