European Weightlifting Federation Statement

The European Weightlifting Federation strongly condemns the incident that happened during the Opening Ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan on April 14, 2023, in which a person set fire to the flag of Azerbaijan.

The EWF considers this extremely serious and regrettable gesture an attack on the integrity of sport values and on the universal principles of Fair Play.

The EWF immediately reacted to this incident, expressing its firm position towards the Organizing Committee and asking for additional guarantees for the safety of all participants in this competition. The EWF was permanently with the delegation from the Republic of Azerbaijan expressing its total solidarity and support with the athletes, coaches and officials.

The EWF considers that this incident is an isolated one and will monitor the implementation of the additional measures requested urgently from the Organizing Committee.

We regret the fact that the delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan had to leave the competition, but at the same time respects it. We were directly involved in ensuring all security conditions for the delegation until it left Armenia.

The EWF remains consistent with the event and will consider taking additional measures in the context of those happened.

The EWF leadership will participate in all the activities carried out within these Championships until the departure of the delegations to ensure that all safety conditions for the teams are implemented.

The EWF remains in solidarity with the Azerbaijan Team and the Federation and remains available for any form of support that is requested in the spirit of sport and Fair Play.

The European Weightlifting Federation