Azerbaijan has withdrawn its athletes and representatives from the European Weightlifting Championships currently being held in Armenia, in protest against the burning of its flag during the opening ceremony of the championship, last Friday.
Azerbaijan said that its players left Armenia for Georgia, and then returned to Azerbaijan.
During the opening ceremony of the tournament in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, and when the flags of the participating countries were displayed on the podium, a young man named Aram Nikolyan went towards the girl who was raising the flag of Azerbaijan, took it from her hand and set it on fire.
According to Aysor.am, citing a source, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan instructed Public Television (OT) to expel the head of the stylistic studio, Aram Nikolyan, for burning the Azerbaijani flag.
The Azeri Times newspaper published the clip on its Twitter account, commenting that the Azerbaijani Federation decided to withdraw from the tournament.
However, Armenia rejected the Azerbaijani accusations, and said, "The matter was resolved quickly and without any danger to the tournament participants."
A joint statement by the Ministry of Sports and the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan stated that "the burning of the flag was carried out by a person accredited to the tournament, during the opening ceremony, in the presence of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan."
The statement added that the Armenian public praised the incident, describing the person who burned the flag as a "hero".
Azerbaijan called on the European Weightlifting Union to impose sanctions on Armenia.
For its part, the European Weightlifting Federation condemned the incident, in a statement posted on its website, pledging to study additional measures in light of the incident.
The statement said: "The European Weightlifting Federation strongly condemns the incident that took place during the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan, on April 14, when someone set fire to the flag of Azerbaijan."
"The federation considers this a serious and unfortunate violation, an attack on the independence and values of sport, and a violation of international standards of fair play," the statement added.
Details of the Saudi victory offer to Zidane and the position of Cristiano Ronaldo
The Saudi Al-Nasr Club is seeking to contract with Frenchman Zinedine Zidane to lead the team, to succeed his compatriot Rudi Garcia, who was dismissed during the past few days.
And Saudi media reports talked about the intervention of Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, the star of victory, to try to persuade Zidane to agree, which was also confirmed by the Spanish newspaper "Marca".
According to the Spanish newspaper, Al-Nasr offered Zidane a two-year contract starting next season, provided that Denko Ilicic continues to lead the team until the end of the current season.
The newspaper stated that Zidane has not yet responded to the offer made to him and is still studying the matter.
The newspaper indicated that Zidane will receive an annual salary of 60 million euros, which means 120 million euros in two seasons.
This is the highest salary of a coach in the world at the present time, as Diego Simeone, coach of Atletico Madrid, is the highest paid salary, and his annual salary reaches 55 million euros.
And press reports claim that Ronaldo will have a role in choosing the next Al-Nasr coach, and the Saudi club management will listen to him.
The Don has a strong relationship with Zidane since the duo worked at Real Madrid, whether in the position of assistant coach or coach, and together they won the Champions League 4 times.
Ronaldo is constantly communicating with Zidane to persuade him to go through a professional experience in the Saudi Roshen League.
Mortada Mansour was denied entry to the stadiums and wholesale penalties were imposed on Al-Ahly and Kahraba
The Disciplinary Committee of the Egyptian Football Association took deterrent decisions against Al-Ahly club and its striker Mahmoud Kahraba, in addition to depriving Zamalek President Mortada Mansour from entering the stadiums for a period of two months.
And the Disciplinary Committee decided, after examining the complaint submitted by Al-Ahly Club against the President of Zamalek Club, for insulting the player Mahmoud Kahraba, as well as the complaint of the President of Zamalek Club against Kahraba, for insulting the Zamalek fans, as follows:
The president of Zamalek Club was fined 300,000 pounds, to be paid within a month.
Depriving the president of Zamalek Club of entering stadiums for a period of two months in competitions in which Zamalek Club participates.
The president of Zamalek Club warned, in an official letter, against returning to such behavior, and reminded him of the disciplinary rules.
The committee also decided to punish Al-Ahly club player Mahmoud Kahraba with the following penalties:
Suspension for 12 matches in competitions organized by the Football Association or the Association of Clubs.
A fine of one million pounds to be paid within a month.
Warning Al-Ahly Club against the fans’ repeated use of phrases or signs that violate sports values, morals, and rules.
Al-Ahly club fined 200,000 pounds, to be paid within a month.
A complaint in two languages against the "collective insult" of Al-Ahly fans Mortada Mansour moves to take Shikabala's right
The president of the Egyptian club, Zamalek, Mortada Mansour, revealed the club’s management’s tendency to file an official complaint with the International Federation of Football Associations, against Al-Ahly fans, against the backdrop of collective insults to the Shikabala player.
Mortada Mansour confirmed on his YouTube channel, saying: “Zamalek will file an official complaint with the International Federation, against Al-Ahly fans, who deliberately insulted Shikabala during the Pharco match.”
He added, "The complaint is being translated into English and French, and it will be sent to the International Federation by Zamalek's lawyer, and Amir Mortada, the football supervisor at the club."
And he continued: “If Zamalek does not obtain the right to Shikabala, I will submit my resignation from the presidency of the club, and Amir Mortada works in Zamalek on a voluntary basis and pays from his own pocket.”
And he continued: “We sent the day before yesterday to the International Federation regarding the Kahraba issue, and we will not announce the details now, but we are not asleep on the conspiracy against Zamalek in this crisis.”
On a related note, player Mahmoud Abdel Razek Shikabala commented during his appearance with Mortada, saying: "We want to get our right this time, because we have nothing to do with the match."
The Al-Ahly club match against its guest Pharco, which brought them together last Friday evening, at the Cairo International Stadium, within the 25th round of the Egyptian Premier League, witnessed a collective insult to Zamalek captain Shikabala by the fans.
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