KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: UEFA has suspended provisionally an Azeri football official for abusive social media posts linked to the current resurgence of violence over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Qarabağ FK communications officer Nurlan Ibrahimov recently called for “killing of all Armenians, young and old, without distinction.”

Ibrahimov later deleted his post but not before it went viral.

A protest from the Armenian football federation led the European federation to investigate.

Pending a final decision by the disciplinary committee, Ibrahimovic has been banned from involvement in European competition matches for breaches of regulations prohibiting racist and other discrimintary conduct and “violating the basic rules of decent conduct.”

A UEFA statement said:

“Following the opening of a disciplinary investigation conducted by an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector regarding the statements made on social media by the Qarabağ FK official, Mr. Nurlan Ibrahimov, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) has taken the following decision:

“- The Qarabağ FK official, Mr. Nurlan Ibrahimov, is provisionally banned from exercising any football-related activity with immediate effect until the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body decides on the merits of the case, in accordance with Article 49 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR), for prima facie violations of Articles 11(2)(b) and 14(1) .”

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