Zambia was left out of the opening ceremony of the Paris Paralympics because they did not provide confirmation that they would be there, but they are still expected to compete, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced on Thursday.
The athletes paraded down the Champs Elysees to the Place de la Concorde on Wednesday in front of an enthusiastic crowd of some 50,000 people, but the Zambian flag was conspicuously absent.
“The Zambia flag was not included in the parade. No one has arrived yet, we’ve had zero communication in the last few days so we told them if you don’t confirm your travelling (plans) and show us your tickets, we will remove the flag,” IPC spokesperson Craig Spence told a press conference.
“We had nothing but this morning in our inbox was proof that they were coming,” Spence added, without elaborating on the date of arrival of the Zambia delegation.
Two athletes from Zambia are scheduled to participate in the Games, with their para-athletics events taking place on Sept. 4 and 5.
