The national team of Azerbaijan for unsportsmanlike behavior was disqualified and removed from the European Championship. All results of Azerbaijani sambists in the tournament were canceled. The cause of the conflict was the final fight in the weight category up to 71 kg.
The Russian sambist Magomed Hajiyev defeated the representative of Azerbaijan Emil Khasanov with a painful hold. However, the Azerbaijani athlete did not agree with the decision of the referees, referring to his readiness to continue the fight. He refused to leave the site after the results were announced. Subsequently, the athlete was joined by other athletes of the national team and the coaching staff, who for almost 30 minutes actively tried to convince the referee of the wrong decision.
As a result of the proceedings, the national team of Azerbaijan was disqualified for unsporting behavior. The situation was commented by the President of the European Sambo Federation Sergei Eliseev:
“This is the first time we have had such a situation at the competition. The Azeybardzhan delegation staged a demarche and demonstrated inappropriate behavior. We will not allow this in the future in our sambo community. If you want to be in it and live according to the rules in our family, please observe the existing rules, how the others follow them! If someone believes that he has the right to appoint and identify champions himself, then this is not for us. Therefore, for such unsportsmanlike behavior of the entire team of Azeybarjan, we made a decision to disqualify.”
