Minsk Carries Russia

From the MT:
"Belarus to Carry Russian Flag at Paralympic Opening Ceremony"

The Belarussian Paralympic team are set to carry Russia's flag at the opening ceremony of the upcoming Paralympic Games. “As the head of the Belarussian Paralympic Committee, I cannot be silent either here or in Brazil,” Oleg Shepel said, the Sputnik Belarus news outlet reported Tuesday. “I have even asked that we carry the Russian flag alongside Belarus' at the opening ceremony in Rio. I am sure that in half a year or so, the Russian Paralympic Committee will be receiving an apology.” The move is to show solidarity with Russia's disabled athletes, who were banned from taking part in this year's Games by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The IPC made the announcement on Aug. 7 after damning reports surfaced of widespread, state-sponsored doping within Russian sport. Their decision was later upheld by The Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) on Tuesday following an appeal. The IPC decision has caused widespread controversy both in Russia and abroad, with top Russian officials calling the ban “cruel and inhumane.”  The International Olympic Committee faced similar calls to ban the Russian squad, but ultimately gave the decision on individual athletes' eligibility to their respective sporting federations. Russia came fourth in this year's Olympic medal table, despite almost all of their track-and-field athletes being barred from taking part. The Paralympic Games are due to begin in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro on Sept. 7.

^ No country should be allowed to carry the flag of another country or have the other country's national anthem played for them. This is clearly a ploy made from Moscow on Minsk. They couldn't over-turn the ruling from the Paralympic Committee like they did with the IOC and so are resorting to other tactics as they often tend to. I feel sorry for the Russian athletes that weren't involved in their government's doping scandal. I have seen firsthand how the disabled are treated and discriminated against in Russia and every time athletes are shown in a positive light in Russian media it helps off-set some of the hostility they face in everyday life. I do believe the team should be banned for what happened (they should have been banned in the Olympics as well) but I also think any athlete who gets an independent test for doping and passes with no problems should be allowed and encouraged to compete on their own. ^

https://themoscowtimes.com/news/belarus-to-carry-russian-flag-at-paralympic-opening-ceremony-55079