Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 8 September (BelTA) - To carry the Russian flag at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games in Rio was the decision of the entire Belarusian team, the press service of the Sport and Tourism Ministry informed.

The flag was carried by Andrei Fomochkin, an official of the national teams office at the Sport and Tourism Ministry. In this way the Belarusian Paralympic athletes wanted to show solidarity with their Russian colleagues who were unjustly deprived of the right to take part in the Paralympics in Rio.

The Sport and Tourism Ministry believes that athletes with disabilities who never retreat in the face of difficulties, who never give up and show an example of persistence, patience, courage and enormous zest for life are worthy of admiration. The decision to deny them the right to compete with the best athletes of the world, members of the large family of Paralympic athletes, seems odd, to say the least.