The International Paralympic Committee has warned Belarus not to stage any more protests against Russia’s exclusion from the Paralympic Games after banning the Belarusian ministry of sport official who smuggled a Russian flag into Wednesday night’s opening ceremony at the Maracanã. Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who has fiercely criticized the IPC ban on the Russian team in Rio as politically motivated, said Fomochkin’s decision to carry the flag was “courageous”.
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Russian Federation has responded to its ban from the Rio Paralympics over state-sponsored doping by holding its “own Paralympics”. Political symbols and gestures of all kinds are strictly barred at Olympic and Paralympic events.
The man in question was not an athlete but a friend of the Belarussian committee president who had been accredited to take part in the ceremony, said the IPC.
“What the Belarusian Paralympians have done deserves admiration”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The ban was mainly influenced by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) report on the alleged widespread use of performance enhancing substances by Russian athletes.
During the solemn Summer Paralympic Games opening ceremony, the Belarusian flag was carried by champion and Paralympic silver medalist Alexander Triput. “Following some wonderful action, performances and fireworks, the mood was soured a little when the Belarus contingent walked into the Maracana Stadium carrying a Russian flag”, The IBT wrote.
It is understood that the controversy has not gone down well with certain figures in the Belarus team. “We will not be there but we will come back for the next one for sure”.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Fomochkin was a “hero”.
Yet the nation received support from a neighbouring country on Wednesday as an individual from the Belarus party marched with a Russian flag.
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Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko also expressed his approval of Fomochkin’s act. “I would like to stress that this is the stance of our government, of the president and the president of our Paralympic committee”.
