Ukrainian delegation denied entry to World Games due to attire: details of the scandal in China.

A scandalous episode occurred at the opening ceremony of the 2025 World Games. The tournament started on August 7 in the Chinese city of Chengdu. The Ukrainian delegation was refused entry to the stadium because their sports attire was deemed by the organizers to be too reminiscent of the national flag, reports the portal Novyny.LIVE. Details of the scandal at the World Games 2025 As told by the president of the Ukrainian Sports Committee, Ilya Shevlyak, in an interview with 'Pershyi', delegation staff were explicitly informed: to participate in the opening parade, they needed to remove the upper part of their uniform – the yellow-blue jackets. This ban provoked a sharp reaction from the Ukrainian side, as the attire was officially approved, just like the outfits of other national teams. The jackets, visually divided into blue and yellow colors, do refer to national symbolism but are not the flag itself. The Ukrainian delegation regarded this demand as inappropriate and violating competition norms. It was decided that if no compromise was reached, the team would not enter the arena at all, except for two flag bearers. Eventually, the incident was resolved. Responsibility was shifted to individual security service employees, explaining the situation as a mistake in interpreting the rules. Officials denied any political component. The World Games are an international competition in non-Olympic sports. In 2025, Ukraine will be represented by 99 athletes competing in 19 disciplines. The most numerous events for our team include acrobatics, powerlifting, and finswimming. During the opening ceremony of the 2025 World Games, the Ukrainian delegation was denied entry to the stadium due to the fact that their yellow-blue sports jackets bore too much resemblance to the national flag. After the conflict, the situation was resolved by shifting responsibility onto specific employees.