The Ministry of Sports Has Terminated Funding for the Boxing Federation

The President of the Armenian Boxing Federation, Artur Gevorgyan, plans to address Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. He announced this on his Facebook page, expressing his complaint that the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of Armenia has suspended their state funding.

“Dear compatriots, representatives of the sports world, and journalists, I would like to inform you that the Armenian National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sport have definitively confirmed that they serve the interests of one individual and fulfill his whims.

According to a letter I received from the Ministry of Sport, it states that the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs suspended the funding of the federation based on a contract signed on April 1, 2019, until the legal bases of the federation are established. The boxing federation, as an Olympic sport, has been funded from the state budget. A corresponding contract was signed again this year, but the ministry, acting as an executor of one person's orders, unlawfully terminated the funding at a time when boxing is experiencing one of its best developments.

We will not tolerate such obvious illegality and blatant administrative misconduct and will appeal to the Prime Minister, hoping to institutionalize the Ministry. The Armenian Boxing Federation has demanded to provide the materials concerning the administrative procedure underlying the decision.

We will continuously inform the public about all the illegal actions of the competent authorities,” he wrote.

The controversy surrounding the ABF began after the elections for the presidency. The elections took place on August 2, 2018, and Artur Gevorgyan, who was the sole candidate, was re-elected to the position. Since that day, there has been much noise in Armenian boxing. Several boxing representatives stood up and addressed the then Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Levon Vahradyan, and the President of the NOC, Gagik Tsarukyan. According to them, the elections were held with violations. Representatives opposed to Gevorgyan established another boxing federation, aiming to replace the long-standing boxing federation.

Recently, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) demanded new elections. The ABF requested explanations for this. Additionally, the ABF's membership in the Armenian National Olympic Committee was recently frozen. Gevorgyan believes that Gagik Tsarukyan, the NOC president, is behind all of this, solving his problems in this way.