‘Joghovourd’. ‘You Also Need to Leave, Brother Jan’. The HFF Executive Committee Meeting Was Extremely Tense

‘Joghovourd’ newspaper writes: According to the newspaper's information, the HFF Executive Committee meeting did not proceed in a peaceful and harmonious manner; it started off tense right from the beginning. The composition of the executive committee has been divided into two halves: on one side are representatives of the ruling team, who are also members of the HFF Executive Committee, and on the other side are Arthur Vanetsyan and the other representatives of the Executive Committee.

The government members came to the meeting with a very combative spirit and from the very start showed their teeth to Vanetsyan. However, Vanetsyan did not back down either, emphasizing that they should not try to pressure him into resigning; if he resigns, it will be purely of his own free will.

Executive Committee member Ruben Rubinyan from the ‘My Step’ faction addressed Vanetsyan in a familiar way. While discussing the issue of resignations of committee members, Rubinyan said to Vanetsyan, ‘You also need to leave, brother jan.’ Vanetsyan replied that he would voluntarily resign if others left the Executive Committee as well.

After nearly three hours of negotiations, it was only decided that everyone would resign. From the government side, they suggested to Vanetsyan that he hint at what kind of statement he would resign with, and they spent an hour and a half working on that text.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s mother, Marina Tashchyan, who represents the Executive Committee, reprimanded those present at the meeting, stating, ‘You do not love football, you do not live for football; you have only come out against Vanetsyan on political orders. There was no need to politicize this issue so much.’

According to the newspaper, during a break in the meeting, the government side tried to find out from Vanetsyan what he would do after his resignation. Vanetsyan replied, ‘Whatever I want, I will do.’ The government members also attempted to convey to Vanetsyan on behalf of Prime Minister Pashinyan that he should not engage in politics. They also hinted that he left their leader alone, to which Vanetsyan responded that the Prime Minister treated him poorly. In any case, before leaving, Arthur Vanetsyan announced, ‘I suggested of my own initiative to leave the position of the federation president because someone must take responsibility for the defeat we suffered against the Italian national team. I took that responsibility upon myself.’

For more details, see the newspaper’s issue today.