Antonio Conflitti, President of the European Weightlifting Federation and President of the Moldavian Weightlifting Federation, has confirmed the highest security level during the ongoing European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan.
In a Facebook post, Mr. Conflitti welcomed the statement of the Armenian authorities and added that “the event should not be involved in politics.”
“I’m able to confirm personally the highest security level reserved to the sport delegations from the beginning of the event,” he added.
In a statement released earlier today, the Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport said it was seriously concerned about the incident with the national flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan during the opening ceremony of the championship on April 14.
“The incident, which was immediately resolved during the ceremony and in no way interfered with the natural course of events, does not reflect the position of the Republic of Armenia authorities and deserves to be condemned in terms of sports values and universal principles of fair play,” the Ministry said in a statement.
“At the same time, we regret the decision of the Azerbaijani team to leave the championship and add that there were no security problems, because the Government of the Republic of Armenia initially provided and continues to provide all security standards for delegations participating in the championship. The Government was committed to earlier commitments to provide additional security measures for Azerbaijani athletes. The evidence of this is that for almost two days the Azerbaijani athletes were safe in Armenia, and following the decision to leave the championship, the relevant services ensured their safe departure,” the Ministry emphasized.
