Azerbaijan withdraws its athletes from the European Weightlifting Championships after the Azerbaijani flag was burned during the opening ceremony.
Azerbaijan says it has withdrawn its athletes from the European Weightlifting Championships in rival Armenia’s capital after a flag-burning incident during the opening ceremony.
Azerbaijan said it had become impossible for its athletes to participate in the championships and they had already left Armenia to travel home via Georgia.
Video of the incident on Saturday showed a man snatching the flag and setting it on fire, prompting an angry joint statement from Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Olympic Committee.
They condemned it as a “barbaric act” and evidence of ethnic hatred and racism, saying that Armenia was unfit to ensure the safety of athletes and host international sporting events.
“In circumstances where such an atmosphere of hatred prevails in Armenia, safety is not guaranteed, the normal participation of Azerbaijani athletes in competitions is impossible due to the psychological pressure,” the statement said.
“Politicization of sport is absolutely unacceptable,” it added, urging the European Weightlifting Federation to impose sanctions on Armenia.
Following the flag burning incident in #Yerevanthe #Azerbaijani weightlifting team decided to withdraw from the European Weightlifting Championships in #Armenia.
The 🇦🇿 team had already booked tickets for a flight from Yerevan to Antalya and then to #Baku at 2:55 am. However,… pic.twitter.com/QqgxoqF8Pv
— The Azerbaijani Times (@AzeriTimes) April 15, 2023
Armenia rejected that criticism and said the incident was resolved quickly and without any danger to the championship participants.
“The incident during the opening ceremony, which was resolved very quickly, has nothing to do with guarantees for the safety of the athletes,” the statement said.
Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency said Armenian police briefly detained the man responsible and his lawyers said he had been released without charge.
The two countries have had hostile relations since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, of which they were both a part.
Since then, they have fought two major wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountain enclave internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but populated primarily by ethnic Armenians. Seven soldiers were killed in fighting last week.