Members of the Armenian community in Sweden are planning to sabotage the Sweden-Azerbaijan match to be held in Stockholm on March 27 within the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament, the Chairman of the Swedish Azerbaijanis Congress, Emil Mirzeyev, told Report.
The chairman noted that his friends, who are currently working in Swedish law enforcement agencies and are also members of the Congress, warned them: "We were informed that they want to buy tickets for the match with Azerbaijan and sabotage the match with political issues. Among them are slogans aimed at the protest action of Azerbaijani eco-activists on the Khankandi-Lachin road passing through Shusha. They also write on social networks that Armenians want to buy 100 tickets for the match, come to the stadium with the flags of Sweden and "Artsakh", and unfurl a banner with "Open the road to Lachin" written on it.
Emil Mirzayev emphasized that they have already sent a request to the relevant institutions regarding the issue: "We have raised this issue led by our ambassador Zaur Ahmadov. According to Swedish law, football cannot contain any political slogans. Citizens of other countries cannot buy tickets to the sector reserved for our fans. We want law enforcement agencies to pay attention to the matter. We also want to raise this issue in the Swedish Football Federation a few days before the game. You know that the sports director of "Sabah" Igor Ponomaryov, lives in Sweden. We have also talked to him. Ponomaryov informed AFFA about the possible provocation so that they take security issues seriously."
He said that the Swedish Azerbaijanis Congress is seriously preparing for the match: "With the support of our ambassador, we are trying to attract as many people as possible to the match. Therefore, we will fill the 115th, 116th, 117th and 118th sectors with Azerbaijani fans. We will all support our home team with flags. We have representatives and associations in many cities of Sweden. Congress members and association chairmen will come to the capital."
Emil Mirzeyev reminded that this is not the first provocation attempt by Armenians: "In 2016, when there were April battles, we had a clash with the Armenian diaspora here. We organized protest rallies. And Armenians blocked the road. They broke the cars of some of our compatriots."