The International Paralympic Committee has announced that the Iranian delegation will not be present at the Milano Cortina Paralympic Games that take place from March 6 to 15 “for security reasons.” The Iranian delegation had planned to participate with only one Paralympic athlete, skier Aboulfazl Khatibi Mianaei.
“Iran had planned to participate with an athlete, two-time Paralympian Aboulfazl Khatibi Mianaeiin two Paralympic cross-country skiing events, the men’s classic standing sprint on March 10 and the men’s classic 10 km interval race on March 11. However, due to the current conflict in the Middle East, the Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022 Paralympic athlete cannot safely travel to Italy,” says the statement issued by the International Paralympic Committee.
“It is really disappointing for world sport and especially for Aboulfazl that he cannot travel safely to compete in his third Paralympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina 2026,” said the president of the CPI, Andrew Parsons.
The highest body of Paralympic athletes has insisted that, since the war in Iran began last Saturday, they have been in constant contact with the Iran Parlympic Committee and with the ski federation of the country to find alternative routes so that Aboulfazl Khatibi Mianaei could be at his third Games, but because of the war, “the risk to human life is too high.”
“Given that communication systems are disabled in much of Iran, dialogue with the Iranian Paralympic Committee and the national ski federation has not been easy. The Iranian committee informed us that it was not possible to guarantee a safe trip to Milan Cortina 2026 and that, therefore, they would not be able to attend the Games,” it was explained in the letter published by the CPI.
