International Paralympic officials oppose Ukraine map and green color on athletes’ uniforms: How the dispute was resolved

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) initially opposed the inclusion of a map of Ukraine and the color green on the uniforms of Ukrainian Paralympic athletes, sparking controversy. However, the issues were ultimately settled.

Valeriy Sushkevych, President of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine, addressed the situation during a press conference at Media Center Ukraine. 

“We were preparing to compete for Ukraine, not just in sport but beyond it, as they say, without separating it from politics. However, IPC officials initially prohibited us from including a map of Ukraine on our uniforms. This map symbolizes the territorial integrity of our country—a map recognized by international law. It was crucial for us to have it on the uniforms, and in the end, we successfully defended our position. The map is now featured on almost all of our team’s uniform elements,” emphasized Sushkevych.

This year, Ukraine introduced green to its national uniforms, in addition to the traditional yellow and blue. This decision also faced pushback from the IPC, who argued that the green color could be seen as a political statement. 

“The Ukrainian flag colors, our logos, and now green are part of the uniform,” Sushkevych explained. “The IPC argued that this could be interpreted as military attire, introducing politics into Paralympic sports, which is not allowed. But I responded by saying that our fight for peace is not political—peace is a fundamental human right. As for the green, we have the colors of ripe wheat and the blue sky, but when the wheat is still growing, the fields are green. This represents Ukraine’s role as the world’s breadbasket. We managed to resolve the issue and keep the uniform intact.”

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news