Tokyo Paralympics: Afghanistan flag to feature during opening ceremony, affirms IPC chief
The Tokyo Paralympics will have the opening ceremony being held on Tuesday. Meanwhile, IPC chief Andrew Parsons has confirmed that Afghanistan's flag will be a part of the ceremony despite the ongoing conflict.
FollowTuesday would witness the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics get underway. Meanwhile, there were doubts if the flag of Afghanistan would be used during the opening ceremony on Tuesday, owing to the ongoing conflict in the country involving the Taliban takeover.
However, Andrew Parsons (International Paralympic Committee chief) has asserted that the flag would be a part of the ceremony despite the prevailing situation, reports PTI. Despite the Afghan athletes pulling out of the event after all the flights from Kabul got cancelled, the Afghan flag used during the opening ceremony is an excellent display of solidarity by the IPC.
Parsons clarified that the Afghan flag would be carried into the National Stadium during the ceremony by an Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees representative. He also affirmed that it is an act of solidarity, and the decision was taken in a meeting to send out a message to the world to maintain peace.
Just an athlete would partially represent Afghanistan during the Games, by swimmer Abbas Karimi, representing the Refugee Paralympic Team, as he had fled his nation in 2013. He happens to be without arms and had fled to Iran before fleeing to Turkey.
Karimi spent four years in Turkey without documentation before wrestling coach Mike Ives began helping the refugee athletes. He also aided the swimmer in moving to the United States of America. Still, the process took a long due to lack of documentation, as he eventually settled in Portland in 2016. He took part in the 2017 World Championships and won the gold medal.
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