Belarusians will carry the Russian flag at the Paralympics
Belarusian athletes will carry the Belarusian and Russian flags at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
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This was stated in a conversation with a Sputnik Belarus correspondent by the Chairman of the Paralympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus Oleg Shepel.
“As the head of the Paralympic Committee of Belarus, I am not going to remain silent either here or in Brazil. I even ordered that Belarusian and, definitely, Russian flags be taken to the opening of the Games in Rio. I’ll definitely have them there,” Shepel said.
According to him, the first feeling from the CAS decision: “Shock!”
“I want to say that this is the most wrong step in the entire history of the Paralympic movement. And the fact that people with disabilities are being put at the head of politics is generally blasphemy. I am sure that in about six months they will begin to apologize to the Russian Paralympic Committee,” Shepel said.
Shepel noted that Russian Paralympians were offered to compete under the IPC flag.
“This (performance under the IPC flag) is unacceptable. This is a purely political moment. If you perform under a flag other than Russia, then we will talk to you. But for this you must almost not recognize Russia. But this is simply unrealistic,” he said.
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