Ministry calls for punishment of ethnic Armenian tennis player over anti-Azerbaijani provocation

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Youth and Sports reacted in a statement to a provocation by Karen Khachanov, a Russian tennis player of Armenian origin, at the Australian Open Championship, Azernews reports, citing the ministry.

Under the statement, during a game of the ongoing Australian Open Grand Slam on January 20, Karen Khachanov behaved improperly against the International Tennis Federation (ITF) rules. Two days later, the same provocation of the tennis player was repeated.

In connection with the incident, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Azerbaijani Tennis Federation appealed to the relevant Russian agency, the ITF, and the organizers of the Australia Open, for the punishment of the tennis player for his provocative actions, urging them to prevent further recurrences.

The relevant structures of Russia assured that the issue would be investigated and the athlete would be warned.