Azerbaijan withdraws its athletes from the European Weightlifting Championships after the Azeri flag was burned through the opening ceremony.
Azerbaijan says it has withdrawn its athletes from the European Weightlifting Championships hosted within the capital of rival Armenia after a flag-burning incident through the opening ceremony.
Azerbaijan mentioned it had turn into unimaginable for its athletes to participate within the championships they usually had already left Armenia to journey residence by way of Georgia.
Video of the incident on Saturday confirmed a person snatching the flag and setting it alight, prompting an indignant joint assertion by Azerbaijan’s youth and sports activities ministry and its Nationwide Olympic Committee.
They condemned it as a “barbaric act” and as proof of ethnic hatred and racism, saying Armenia was unfit to make sure the protection of athletes and host worldwide sporting occasions.
“In situations when such an environment of hatred prevails in Armenia, safety shouldn’t be ensured, the traditional participation of Azerbaijani athletes in competitions is unimaginable as a result of psychological stress,” the assertion mentioned.
“Politicising sport is totally unacceptable,” it added, urging the European Weightlifting Federation to impose sanctions on Armenia.
Following the flag burning incident in #Yerevan, the #Azerbaijani weightlifting staff determined to withdraw from the European Weightlifting Championships in #Armenia.
The 🇦🇿 staff had already booked tickets for a flight from Yerevan to Antalya after which to #Baku at 2:55 am. Nevertheless,… pic.twitter.com/QqgxoqF8Pv
— The Azeri Instances (@AzeriTimes) April 15, 2023
Armenia rejected that criticism, saying the incident had been resolved rapidly and with none hazard to rivals on the championships.
“The incident that occurred through the opening ceremony, which was resolved in a short time, has nothing to do with ensures of security of the athletes,” it mentioned.
Russia’s RIA Novosti information company mentioned Armenian police briefly detained the person accountable and quoted his attorneys as saying he was launched with out cost.
The 2 international locations have had hostile relations for the reason that 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, of which they have been each half.
Since that point, they’ve fought two main wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountain enclave that’s internationally recognised as a part of Azerbaijan however is populated primarily by ethnic Armenians. Seven troopers have been killed in combating inside the previous week.
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