"We cannot tolerate any disrespect for the flag," Head of the press service of the Azerbaijan Weightlifting Federation Kanan Mastaliyev said, APA reports.
According to him, Armenia's, which is responsible for security, reaction to what happened is unacceptable:
"This shows that Armenians still do not want peace. They have hatred towards Azerbaijan."
The press secretary said that a decision was made to leave the country after the incident.
"Although the Armenian authorities, the European Weightlifting Federation, and the International Weightlifting Federation all invited us to stay in the competition," he said.
Kanan Mastaliyev said that this incident was committed deliberately.
"There was a breakdown in the Internet at the time of the incident. The episode of the flag burning was not shown live. We saw it on social media after a short time," he said.
Kanan Mastaliyev said that the decision to return was made taking into account the age of the athletes and their psychological condition:
"During the competition, we intended to do more. The Armenian national team visited our training hall just before the competition. I realized they took this step because they saw our athletes' potential of winning a gold medal."
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