None of the 20 athletes from the Ukrainian Paralympic team has reached Beijing with the Games opening at the end of the week, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said Monday. (More Sports News)
IPC spokesman Craig Spence, in an interview with The Associated Press, said he was hopeful the athletes would arrive in China for Friday's opening ceremony despite difficult logistics.
He declined to disclose the team's whereabouts, citing safety concerns and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 바카라We're in regular dialogue with Ukraine about their participation at the Games, and we're working hard behind the scenes to get them here,바카라 Spence said.
He said there were no flights out of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. In addition, flights entering China for the Paralympics 바카라 as well as for the just-closed Olympics 바카라 can originate only from a few designated hub airports.
This is part of China's severe 바카라closed-loop system바카라 for the Olympics and Paralympics, which limits athletes, staff and journalists to designated hotels, venues, and a media center with no contact with Beijing and its 20 million residents.
바카라For several reason we are not confirming their location or providing specific updates,바카라 Spence said. 바카라The health and welfare of the delegation is our No. 1 priority. The less said about where they are, the better.바카라
Spence said a few non-athletes from the Ukrainian delegation were on hand. He said some of Russia's 71 athletes had arrived, but he did not exactly know how many. About 650 athletes from 49 delegations, including Ukraine, are expected for the Paralympics, which open Friday and close on March 13.
The Beijing Winter Olympics drew 2,900 athletes from 91 delegations. It closed on February 20. Athletes from Ukraine and elsewhere have sent an open letter to Olympic and Paralympic leaders, asking them to suspend the Russian and Belarusian Olympic and Paralympic Committees.
Spence said the IPC board 바카라 it has no Russian or Ukrainian members 바카라 would meet Wednesday to tackle that and other questions. As of now, Russian athletes are expected to compete. They will not represent Russia, but represent the Russian Paralympic Committee.
Russian athletes in the Winter Olympics competed representing the Russian Olympic Committee, a fallout from a state-sponsored doping scandal 바카라 and coverup 바카라 dating from the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
It's theoretically possible that some Paralympic athletes may refuse to compete against counterparts from the Russian team. Spence said issues like this might come up in Wednesday's board meeting. 바카라We바카라re aware of the talk that바카라s out there and the views of everyone,바카라 he said. 바카라Clearly we바카라d love the focus right now to be on sport, but at the moment that바카라s not the focus."
The IPC and IOC have condemned Russia바카라s breach of the Olympic Truce ahead of the Beijing Paralympics. But since the outbreak of the war last week, neither the IOC nor the IPC has taken direct action against Russia.
