Azerbaijan leaves Weightlifting Championship in Armenia over country's flag burning

Azerbaijan announced on Saturday that its athletes will be withdrawing from the European Weightlifting Championship in Armenia due to the burning of the country's flag in the opening ceremony.

A statement from Azerbaijan's Ministry of Sports and the National Olympic Committee said the flag was demonstratively burned by an officially accredited person at the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championship in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Friday.

It emphasized that the act contradicted the goals and principles of sports, which promote peace and mutual understanding among nations. "The politicization of sports is absolutely unacceptable," the statement said.

"During the opening ceremony of 2023 European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan, Armenia, the barbaric act took place, and the Azerbaijan flag was set on fire. This is deeply unacceptable and shows that Armenia is not ready to host such events.

"We call on the international community and international sports institutions to strongly condemn this barbaric act. We also call on the European Weightlifting Federation to impose sanctions against Armenia," Farid Gayibov, Azerbaijan's minister of youth and sports, said on Twitter.

The European Weightlifting Championship began on Friday in Yerevan. Designer Aram Nikolyan burned the Azerbaijani flag on stage and took it out of the hall during the opening ceremony. He was detained and escorted to one of Yerevan's police stations, but was freed shortly.

The competition will take place on April 15-April 23.

The 101st European Weightlifting Championships will include 380 athletes from 40 European countries.

The European Championship serves as a qualifying event for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.