The two countries will not participate in the 15th European Youth Olympic Festival "Baku 2019", Minister of Youth and Sport Azad Rahimov told Report. According to the minister, these countries are Armenia and Luxembourg: "We have not yet determined yet why Luxembourg will not participate. We can inform about it at the end of the seminar of European National Olympic Committees officials in Baku. As for Armenia, the deadline for participation in the Baku 2019 has expired. Neither the European Olympic Committees nor we intend to put pressure on anyone to participate in the festival. The member-states of the European Olympic Committees will join the competitions on a voluntary basis. But Armenia did not attend."
According to Azad Rahimov, Deputy Chairman of the Organizing Committee of Baku 2019, the mentioned countries cannot participate further in team sports competitions.
The minister said that if the National Olympic Committees of Armenia or Luxembourg want their athletes to participate in individual competitions, the Organizing Committee may consider it as an exception.
Notably, the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival will be held on July 21-27. Over 3,600 delegates will arrive in Azerbaijan to participate in the competitions. Athletes will compete in 10 kinds of sports - gymnastics, athletics, basketball, cycling, handball, judo, tennis, volleyball and wrestling. Over 2,500 volunteers will work at 12 sports facilities during the festival.