The flag of Azerbaijan was set on fire during the opening ceremonies of the European Weightlifting Championships at the Karen Demirchian Sports Complex in Yerevan on Apr. 14 (YouTube screen capture)
Azerbaijan ordered its weightlifting team to leave Armenia after the country’s flag was set ablaze during the opening ceremonies on Friday of the European Weightlifting Championships, which are being held in Yerevan’s Karen Demirchian Sports Complex.
A fashion designer who worked on the 90-minute show snatched the flag from a young woman during the parade of athletes and set it on fire in a move later defended on social media, the International Weightlifting Federation’s “Inside the Games” news site reported.
Aram Nikolyan, who works for a television company, was caught, and detained by police but later released without charge.
“My only desire was to ensure that the flag of Azerbaijan does not fly in Yerevan, the capital of the Republic of Armenia,” said Nikolyan, who designed the costumes worn by flag-bearers at the Ceremony.
“If there are people who believe that I should not have done that, let them hang the Azerbaijani flag in their homes,” he added.
Azerbaijan’s youth and sports ministry, along with that country’s Olympics committee called the incident “Azerbaijanophobia!” before ordering the athletes to leave Armenia as a “matter of concern in terms of sports ethics.”
“The incident that happened during the opening ceremony, which was resolved very quickly, has nothing to do with the safety of the athletes and ensuring their normal competitions. All necessary conditions were fully provided,” Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science Culture and Sports said in a statement.
“The Republic of Armenia remains committed to fulfilling its commitments to the International Weightlifting Federation and reaffirms the readiness to hold the European championship 2023 at a high level,” the Armenian ministry added.
The European Weightlifting Federation condemned the incident calling it “an attack on the integrity of sport values.”
The competitions for the weightlifting championships, which will run until April 23, began on Saturday.