Sports: Armenian separatists claim responsibility for drone

RTL Luxumburg

Oct 4 2019

Armenian separatists claim responsibility for drone

RTL

Thursday night's match between F91 Dudelange and Qarabag was interrupted by a drone, shortly after the visitors scored their second goal, in an apparent political gesture.

The appearance of the drone caused a delay to the game, as well as unnerving some Qarabag supporters.

Officials paused the game when the drone appeared over the pitch and sent both teams to the dressing rooms. Fans of the home team stormed the pitch, in spite of security which struggled to contain the Azerbaijani supporters.

Shortly after the match, the separatist group "First Armenian Front /FAF ultras/" published an image on Facebook explaining the origins of the action. According to the group, "the action was led by the young people of Belgium thanks to Spartak J".

Through this gesture, the group wanted to convey the message that Qarabag does not belong to Azerbaijan. The football club originated in the city of Agdam, until they were forced to move to the capital, Baku, as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

According to the instigators of the movement, Qarabag is an independent city with its own flag. They claimed on Facebook that the football club has no connection with the name of the city which, according to them, has been used wrongly.

Minister of Sport Dan Kersch presented his apologies in the name of the government for this provocation. Although the match was interrupted, play resumed after almost 20 minutes.

Police also reported that a number of cars had been broken into during the match, in a car park near the stadium.