Trump Official Backs Russia’s Return to Global Sports

Paolo Zampolli, a special envoy for President Trump, endorsed Russia’s participation at next month’s Paralympics, a move greeted with dismay in European capitals.Paolo Zampolli in Milan in 2024.Credit...Maurizio Fiorino for The New York TimesFeb. 21, 2026Updated 3:44 a.m. ETRussia’s return to the global sporting stage after years of banishment because of cheating schemes and its invasion of Ukraine has found an influential source of support from the Trump administration.The news that a Russian team will compete at next month’s Paralympics was greeted with dismay across Europe. But Paulo Zampolli, President Trump’s special representative for global partnerships, endorsed Russian participation, saying in a text message: “I think sport is for all.”His comments were at odds with those of European leaders and those from Ukraine, which said its team would boycott the competition’s opening ceremony. The Paralympics’ host nation, Italy, expressed “its absolute opposition to the International Paralympic Committee’s decision.”Even as Russia was barred from fielding a team at the Winter Games in Italy, which conclude on Sunday, momentum has been building for ending the country’s pariah status in global sports.The president of FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, said this month that he would like to see Russia return to the sport’s international competitions. And the president of the International Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry, said that sports must be a “neutral ground” and a “place where every athlete can compete freely.”Her words sounded much like those of Mr. Zampolli, who met with Russia’s sports minister in January at talks hosted by the Olympic Council of Asia, an umbrella body for the region. Mr. Zampolli also attended the opening ceremony of the Olympics with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.The U.S. government was not among the 35 signatories to a statement condemning the Paralympic governing body’s initial decision to lift its suspension of Russia in September.The governing body, known as the I.P.C., said this week that six Russian athletes and four from Belarus — which was barred over its support for Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — had been awarded the equivalent of wild card entries for skiing and snowboarding events next month. It would be Russia’s first participation in the Paralympics since it hosted the event in Sochi in 2014.After those Games, Russia was found to have engaged in an extensive, state-backed doping program aimed at improving its athletes’ performance. Sanctions and bans followed, and for more than a decade Russian athletes have not been allowed to represent their country at the Olympics or Paralympics. Thirteen Russian athletes were cleared to compete at this month’s Winter Games as “neutral” athletes, but displays of Russia’s flag or national symbols and the playing of its national anthem were forbidden.That was clear the night of one of the marquee events, the final of the women’s figure skating competition on Thursday. Adeliia Petrosian, an 18-year-old Russian competing under neutral status, enjoyed warm support in the arena, but her fans were prohibited from displaying anything that could be construed as Russian.ImageFans of Adeliia Petrosian hold signs supporting her in Milan, Italy, this month.Credit...Vincent Alban/The New York TimesMany devised their own ways of showing support. A family from Moscow dressed in matching cherry-red hoodies featuring Ms. Petrosian’s face. Others held up cardboard signs of support. As Ms. Petrosian warmed up on the ice, the arena announcer introduced her as a “three-time national champion,” without saying of which nation.Afterward, she expressed disappointment with her sixth-place finish but acknowledged the support she had received from “Russian-speaking spectators.”The I.O.C. formally banned Russia over its move in 2023 to absorb the official sports institutions in several occupied regions of Ukraine. Russian officials have argued in recent months that they have instituted administrative changes that mean the ban should be lifted.Russia’s sports minister, Mikhail V. Degtyarev, has said that he expects the I.O.C.’s executive board to decide by May whether to lift the ban. That leaves open the possibility that a Russian team could participate in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.Even if the I.O.C. reinstates Russia, federations governing individual sports at the Games must agree to lift their own bans. A few have done so, including those for judo and taekwondo.Some senior I.O.C. officials have backed Russian efforts at reinstatement.“They’re definitely showing good steps forward, and at the end of the day the Olympic movement is about inclusivity, not exclusivity, so we must find a way to bring everybody back,” Prince Feisal Al Hussein, a Jordanian royal who sits on the I.O.C. board, said in an interview this month. “I think they’re taking what we’ve been asking about them properly and they’re trying to address certain subjects.”Russia’s war in Ukraine has been a source of contention at the Winter Games. Last week, a Ukrainian skeleton athlete was disqualified because he had planned to race wearing a helmet honoring countrymen killed in the war, which the I.O.C. said violated its restrictions on political speech.Another fraught moment could come at the Paralympic opening ceremony on March 6, where Russia’s team will be allowed to display the national flag and parade in national colors. Some European governments said this week that they would not send official delegations to the ceremony. Estonia’s national broadcaster said that it would not broadcast events where Russian and Belarusian athletes were competing under their flags.Tariq Panja is a global sports correspondent, focusing on stories where money, geopolitics and crime intersect with the sports world.SKIP