Host's shame: anti-Azerbaijani provocation at World Sambo Championships in Yerevan What is Vasily Shestakov thinking?!

Sport is beyond politics. We have heard this phrase countless times. But in reality, big sport was, is and will be connected with big politics. Back in the days of the USSR and the countries of the socialist camp, any Olympics or world championship in a particular sport was seen as a competition between two systems - Soviet (socialist) and American (capitalist).

After the collapse of the USSR and the socialist camp, this competition has shrunk, but the element of politics in big sports has not gone anywhere. This was proved by the World Sambo Championship held from 10 to 12 November in Yerevan. It makes sense to remind here that the International Sambo Federation received permanent recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in July 2021. In other words, sambo is already an Olympic sport, which raises the status of the world championships in this type of martial arts.

At the World Cup in Yerevan, representatives of Russia, Belarus, France and the refugee team competed in a neutral status. I would like to remind that the national team of independent refugee athletes was established in March 2016 and took part in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for the first time. IOC President Thomas Bach said at the time that the creation of the national team should be a symbol of hope for all refugees in the world to raise awareness of the extent of the migration crisis in Europe. Politics? Blatant, overt. The only thing left to do is to allow the formation of separate national teams composed of representatives of sex minorities, and then to allow the formation of teams of different skin colours, so that both the absurdity and politicisation of the IOC's actions reach their peak.

In any case, the Azerbaijani national team did not participate in the Sambo World Cup in Yerevan. And, as practice has shown, it was the right decision. Armenian media happily reported that the rag, still called by Armenian nationalists and revanchists the "flag" of the defunct puppet entity, was carried into the stands of the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex, where the championship was held.

And this moment, I should add, was shown live on Armenian TV channels. Provocation? Obvious, brazen, stupid and demonstrating the weakness of the Armenian side. But the questions here should be asked to the President of the Sambo Federation of Armenia Mikayel Hayrapetyan. Without his personal consent, this kind of provocation could not have taken place.

We can and should also put obvious questions to the President of the International Sambo Federation Vasily Shestakov both on the fact of the anti-Azerbaijani provocation at the World Cup in Yerevan and the fact of the lack of punishment for it. It is important to emphasise that Shestakov met Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan and presented him with a commemorative medal. Whether its presentation implied Shestakov's consent to the provocation by waving a rag at Armenian separatists at the World Cup in Yerevan is a debatable issue.

However, Shestakov is obliged to react to what happened. After all, international sambo competitions have been and will continue to be held in Azerbaijan. Here, of course, the Azerbaijan Sambo Federation should have a decisive word, and its leadership should write a letter to Shestakov with a detailed account of the essence of provocative actions on the part of Armenia, as the host country of the championship.

On the whole, I would like to note that despite numerous statements by official Yerevan about the readiness of Armenia and Armenian society for peace with Azerbaijan, we see regular provocations from the Armenian side. Let me remind you, for example, that in April this year, during the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championships, designer Aram Nikolyan snatched the Azerbaijani flag from the flag bearer and set it on fire, after which he ran off the stage with it.

And this is despite the fact that even then the Armenian side gave guarantees that the championship would be held without incidents and without showing disrespect to the participating countries. It failed to cope with this. Unlike Azerbaijan, which hosted a huge number of international competitions of the highest rank. In some of which athletes from Armenia also participated. There were also cases of participation of Armenians, who played for the national teams of different countries, in the competitions held in our country. And there was never a case of burning the Armenian flag or any other form of pressure on athletes from Armenia or ethnic Armenians from the national teams of different countries.

But Armenia failed the humanity test, both then and now. After all, the same Nikolyan did not receive any serious punishment. On the contrary, his deed was considered almost "heroic" in Armenia. I don't know whether those who carried the peace of rag of Armenian separatists to the Sambo World Cup will be included in the ranks of "heroes" in Armenia, but it is obvious that only in such a cheap and primitive way the Armenian side is trying to dull the complexes that appeared after the collapse of a huge number of their national myths and projects. And we would not pay any attention to all this if Armenians were self-satisfied in this way somewhere in their bathroom. But they prefer to do it at international sports competitions. And these provocations must be put an end to.