Eduard Novak, the president of the National Paralympic Committee, said on Thursday that Romania will not boycott the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Paralympic Games on Friday in Verona, considering that sport should not be a field for international politics.
Novak thus denied the information of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sîbiga, who had announced, on Wednesday, on the X platform, that Austria, Romania and Great Britain joined 14 other states in the effort to boycott the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate under the flag of their countries.
“I don’t know where this information comes from. I don’t remember when the foreign minister of another country spoke on behalf of Romania. Is this being worn now?
No, we have nothing to do with it. The National Paralympic Committee and I consider the Paralympic Winter Games to be an apolitical event. Politics must be made by someone else, not by us.
So, Romania will be present at the opening of the Paralympic Games with our two athletes. We do not want to intervene in such matters and consider that such things should be discussed in other contexts. Sport should not be a field for politics”, Novak told Agerpres.
The CNP official stated that he has no information related to the presence of any Romanian political official at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games: ‘We have no information in this regard. I will be present’.
Romania will be represented by two athletes in two disciplines of the Paralympic program, Andrei-Sorin Popa – para alpine skiing and Mihăiță Papară – para snowboard.
Mihăiță Papară (46 years old) will compete in the snowboard cross (SBX) and banked slalom (BSL) events. Active in the international circuit since 2014, he is the most experienced Romanian para snowboard athlete, representing Romania at the PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games.
His record includes 38 World Cup starts, one world podium, five European Cup podiums, repeated Top 10 finishes and 3rd place in the overall world ranking (BSL & SBX) in the 2020-2021 season. At the World Championships he achieved notable placings, including 8th in La Molina (2015) and 8th in Dual Banked Slalom (2023).
In the 2025-2026 season he achieved the silver medal in the European general classification in SBX (category LL1), two victories in the Nor-Am Cup (Big White, Canada), a victory and a 2nd place in the European Cup in Kuhtai, as well as a podium in Lenk (Switzerland). Recent results keep him consistently in the continental Top 5.
Andrei-Sorin Popa (38 years old) competes in para alpine skiing, class LW9-2 (standing), in the slalom event (SL). In this category, athletes compete in an upright position and results are adjusted through the FIS factoring system to ensure competitive equity between classes.
After a stroke suffered in 2020, which affected his mobility, Andrei rebuilt his sports career, and the 2025-2026 season marked his real debut on the international circuit, with the support of the National Paralympic Committee. As of December 2025, he has recorded 11 international FIS starts, four podiums and repeated Top 6 finishes. Notable results include 2nd place in Hinterstoder (Austria) and three 3rd places in Rokytnice (Czech Republic) and Jasna (Slovakia).
Milano-Cortina 2026 will mark Romania’s fifth participation in the Paralympic Winter Games, after the 2010 (Vancouver), 2014 (Soci), 2018 (PyeongChang) and 2022 (Beijing) editions. Beyond continuity, the 2026 edition also brings the diversification of Romania’s representation in winter Paralympic sports, being for the first time represented in two disciplines.
