The Italian Powerchair Football national team of FIPPS was denied boarding and left stranded at Fiumicino airport. The CIP reported the incident: the Italian squad was unable to board the flight to Glasgow, where the athletes were due to take part in an international tournament ahead of the upcoming World Championships in Argentina. "This represents an extremely serious matter, damaging to the personal dignity of our athletes and to the core values of sport in general and Paralympic sport in particular," reads the statement from the Italian Paralympic Committee, which in its account of events reveals that FIPPS had previously requested and obtained formal authorisation from airline EasyJet, as far back as last April, for the transport of 6 athletes with disabilities, along with both their everyday mobility wheelchairs and their 6 specialist competition chairs. "Despite the initial confirmation and a subsequent communication sent by the Federation via certified email before departure to prevent any logistical mishap — the CIP further stresses — the team found itself up against an ideological and organisational wall at the boarding gate." At 10:15 (with the flight departing at 11:55), the airline reportedly announced that it was unable to board the entire delegation, citing as its reason that the aircraft (an Airbus A320) could carry a maximum of only 5 wheelchairs. "What happened at Fiumicino airport is an unacceptable disgrace that sets us back decades in terms of human and social rights. Incidents like this demonstrate, once again, how equal dignity is unfortunately still only formal and not yet substantive. We are not talking about a simple travel disruption or a delayed bag: denying boarding to athletes and to the equipment with which they live and compete means denying their very autonomy and identity," declared Marco Giunio De Sanctis, CIP president. "I find it outrageous that in 2026 an airline like EasyJet can first reassure a Federation and then abandon a national team at the airport, proposing absurd solutions and even suggesting it will not reimburse the damage caused. The CIP will make its voice heard forcefully in all competent forums." The Italian Paralympic Committee reiterates that the right to mobility is neither a privilege nor a concession, but a fundamental constitutional and civil right. The CIP calls for an immediate intervention by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and by ENAC to establish EasyJet's direct responsibilities and to define, once and for all, genuinely accessible and inclusive air transport standards. Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA