October 4 – A Europa League game between Luxembourg’s F91 Dudelange and FK Qarabag of Azerbaijan was temporarily halted on Thursday when a drone was flown over the ground.
Qarabag were leading 2-0 when the drone was spotted flying over the pitch forcing the match officials to suspend the action for around 15 minutes. Shortly after play resumed Qarabag increased their lead from the penalty spot and went on to win 4-1.
According to reports the drone carried a red, blue and gold flag featuring the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a landlocked Armenian separatist region within Azerbaijan.
There are currently no diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia owing to the ongoing conflict over the region which engaged in a bloody six-year war that ended in 1994. Although the area is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, it is an independently-run, ethnically-Armenian enclave.
Last May, Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan refused to play for Arsenal in the Europa League final in Baku because he feared for his safety in Azerbaijan’s capital.
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