Paralympics opening ceremony to include Afghanistan flag as message of solidarity

Record ID: 1633384

  • Title: Paralympics opening ceremony to include Afghanistan flag as message of solidarity
  • Date: 23rd August 2021
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (AUGUST 23, 2021) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE SET TO BEGIN TOKYO 2020 PRESIDENT SEIKO HASHIMOTO (LEFT), AND INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE (IPC) PRESIDENT ANDREW PARSONS (RIGHT) SEATED AT NEWS CONFERENCE TOKYO 2020 PARALYMPIC GAMES LOGO (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE (IPC) PRESIDENT, ANDREW PARSONS, SAYING: "But one thing that I would like to inform you is that we will include the Afghanistan flag in the (opening) ceremony as a sign of solidarity. We have invited the UNHCR representative here to act as the flagbearer. So it's an act of solidarity, we have decided this yesterday at the board meeting of the IPC. And I think it's just important to highlight that to you because it's a message, basically of solidarity and peace that we send to the world with that attitude. We would like to have them here, unfortunately it's not possible, but they will be here, of course, in spirit." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE (IPC) PRESIDENT, ANDREW PARSONS, SAYING: "One of the questions I have been asked quite often is, can we have safe Games? And the answer is yes. We would not be here if we did not believe that we could deliver safe Games. The Olympics have shown that the playbooks work. We do understand, of course, the rise in number of cases in Tokyo, in Japan, but we do not believe that that is a cause-effect relationship between the fact that we are here for the Paralympics and the numbers rising in Japan." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE (IPC) PRESIDENT, ANDREW PARSONS, SAYING: "Anyhow we must remain vigilant because we want to keep that. We must not be complacent, so that's why we are strongly working with the national Paralympic committees and international federations, actually, with all the stakeholders of the Paralympic Games, that until the very last moment, until the last team leaves the Village, we have to keep the attitude we have to abide by the playbooks." PARSONS (LEFT) AND IPC CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER CRAIG SPENCE (RIGHT) SEATED AT NEWS CONFERENCE SOUNDBITE (English) INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE (IPC) PRESIDENT, ANDREW PARSONS, SAYING: "The Olympics, there were only three cases of people needing to go to the hospital - one due to COVID, two others were sport injuries, so we have our numbers are much smaller. And that's precisely why we are investing in protecting our stakeholders, making sure that they don't, that they abide by the playbooks and they don't contract the virus." NEWS CONFERENCE ENDING
  • Embargoed: 6th September 2021 11:35
  • Keywords: Afghanistan Andrew Parsons COVID-19 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Japan Paralympic Games Taliban Tokyo Tokyo 2020 Tokyo Paralympics coronavirus insurgents militants pandemic politics
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA001ERI0UGV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons said on Monday (August 23) the opening ceremony for the Paralympic Games would include the Afghanistan flag as a message of solidarity, after Afghan athletes were unable to get to Japan due to ongoing turmoil in their country.
    Parsons told a news conference in Tokyo that the IPC has asked a UNHCR representative to act as the flagbearer for Afghanistan during the ceremony which is set on Tuesday (August 24).
    Parsons also voiced confidence that the Paralympics would be held safely, amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in Japan, thanks to participants' adherence to the "playbooks" of coronavirus countermeasures.
    But he stressed the athletes needed to remain vigilant until the very end of the Games.
    Planners of the Paralympics, set to run from Tuesday until Sept. 5, agreed recently to hold the Games generally without spectators, a measure taken at the recently concluded Olympics. Japan's fifth wave of infections, which is being driven by the highly infectious Delta variant, has prompted the government to extend pandemic emergency measures in Tokyo and other regions until Sept. 12.
    (Production: Chris Gallagher)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Olympic restriction: Clip cannot be re-published without additional clearances from the IOC.
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