Azerbaijan's appeal to UEFA over Armenian football fans' provocations frightens Yerevan Karabakh is not Armenia

After the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) appealed to UEFA on August 12 due to the provocation of Armenian fans during the return match of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League between the Armenian FC Pyunik and the Serbian FK Crvena Zvezda, the Football Federation of Armenia and the football club Pyunik hastened to come up with excuses.

During the match, Armenian fans put up provocative banners ("Karabakh is Armenia" and "Kosovo is Serbia"), which is a violation of UEFA rules and the Charter of the organisation. According to clause 16.2.e, all associations and clubs are responsible for the transmission of messages of a provocative nature by one or more supporters using gestures, words, objects or any other means. AFFA asked UEFA to investigate the matter and take appropriate action.

On August 12, the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) and Pyunik football club issued an urgent statement, calling the provocation an "incident". At the same time, without forgetting to traditionally "cry", they say, due to such "incidents", the FFA and Armenian clubs face heavy fines and disqualification.

"Recently, during international matches held in Armenia, events are taking place that is incompatible with football matches and sports in general, which is fraught with the most serious consequences for Armenian football. Dozens of citizens, mostly teenagers, fight in the stands, and political actions are also held. Security officers made a mistake, work is underway with them.

During almost all international matches played in Armenia this year, similar incidents occurred, for which the FFA and Armenian clubs paid heavy fines. However, if such cases are not ruled out, the Republican Stadium, the only one in Armenia that meets high European standards, may be disqualified. Both the Armenian national team and our clubs will have to play home matches on neutral fields in other countries. Therefore, we call on the media not to distribute videos and photos of the riots, parents not to let their children go on the field, and football fans and fan clubs to help put things in order together to avoid undesirable consequences for Armenian football in the future," the joint statement of FFA and Pyunik reads.