Poland Confirms Paralympic Opening Ceremony Boycott Amid Sports Funding Crisis

The atmosphere surrounding the upcoming Winter Paralympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo is becoming increasingly tense, with political decisions beginning to dominate over purely sporting competition. The Polish Paralympic Committee and the Ministry of Sport have officially announced that the White-and-Reds will not participate in the parade of nations during the opening ceremony in Verona. This is a direct response to the controversial decision by the International Paralympic Committee, which allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flags and national colors. This decision was perceived by Polish authorities as a violation of the fundamental principles of sports ethics in light of the ongoing aggression against Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the Polish boycott in an ironic and dismissive manner, further deepening the diplomatic deadlock. The Polish side emphasizes that although the athletes will compete in the events, their absence from the stadium in Verona is intended to be a clear signal of opposition to the legitimization of Russian actions on the international stage. Domestically, emotions are running high over infrastructure and funding issues. The Ministry of Sport, led by Sławomir Nitras and Jakub Rutnicki, has approved plans to build a luge track in Karpacz. The investment, worth approximately 15 million zloty, is intended to enable training on a professional synthetic facility, representing a significant cost reduction compared to initial concepts that assumed an expenditure of around 120 million zloty for an ice track. This initiative was publicly attacked by Zbigniew Boniek, who described it as a waste of public money on a "niche sport." This statement was met with an immediate rebuttal from Deputy Minister Rutnicki, who pointed to the lack of an alternative training base in Poland and the need to support disciplines with rich historical traditions. This conflict reveals deep divisions in the perception of investment priorities of the Polish state in the area of mass and elite sports. Since the dismantling of the natural track in Karpacz in the 1970s, Poland has lacked a professional facility for sliding sports, forcing our national team athletes to constantly travel for training to Germany, Austria, or Latvia. Simultaneously, the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl) has found itself in a drastic financial situation. Following the withdrawal of key partners, including the Polsat Plus Group and the company Enea, the payment of bonuses for medalists from the recently concluded Winter Games has been threatened. Media reports speak of a budgetary "collapse" of the organization, which the sports minister describes as a result of mismanagement and the confrontational nature of President Radosław Piesiewicz. Poland's only medalist from Milan, Vladimir Semirunniy, is additionally grappling with procedures concerning his medal, which had to be temporarily returned for verification. Despite these difficulties, the ministry assures that bonuses from the state budget will be paid without disruption, regardless of the condition of the PKOl.