France's already tarnished image further damaged by Olympic controversy, expert says

French television channel France 2 should face sanctions from relevant French authorities for making provocative statements against the Azerbaijani team during the live broadcast of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, American political scientist and international relations expert Peter Tase told Report.

He noted that the negative comments made by the channel's hosts about the Azerbaijani team are untrue and will contribute to the deterioration of bilateral relations between Baku and Paris.

"Azerbaijan has maintained reliable diplomatic relations with the majority of European Union countries and for Paris to conduct a propaganda campaign against Baku, appears to be an evil act in modern times, coming from a Western European country that pretends to be a consolidated democracy," Tase said.

The political scientist emphasized that with such statements, France is losing its already tarnished image.

It was previously reported that Azerbaijan may file a complaint with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the French TV channel's comments during the opening of the Summer Olympic Games.