Afghan flag displayed in Paralympic ceremony with no athletes behind it

The Tokyo Olympic Stadium may not have been full, but there was no lack of emotion as the Afghanistan flag was carried into the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on Tuesday.

Two athletes who were set to represent Afghanistan at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games were unable to travel to Japan to attend the opening ceremony due to the situation in Afghanistan.

But it was decided that the flag would be represented in Japan as 'an act of solidarity and peace', according to International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons earlier in the week.

Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli were set to compete for Afghanistan. Khudadadi would have been the first woman to represent the country at a Paralympic Games.