Arthur Azaryan Clarifies Decisions Made by the HFF Executive Committee

The General Secretary of the Armenian Football Federation (HFF), Arthur Azaryan, elaborated on the decisions made during the recent meeting of the HFF Executive Committee in an interview with the HFF official website, addressing a series of issues.

Azaryan specifically stated the following: “On December 30, 2020, shortly before the end of the last working day of the year, 9 members of the HFF, including Ararat FC LLC, Ararat-Armenia FC LLC, DFA LLC, Dovec FC NGO, Erebuni SC NGO, Erebuni-Dilijan MA NGO, Armenian Football Veterans and Young Players Solidarity NGO, Sevan FC LLC, and Vanadzor Football Academy NGO, submitted a request to the Armenian Football Federation to convene an extraordinary meeting pursuant to their statutory rights.

These members proposed to suspend the membership of 6 HFF members: Ani FC NGO, Aragatz FC NGO, Lokomotiv FC NGO, Torpedo FC LLC, DFA LLC, and West Armenia FC NGO. This is at least strange, as the suspension issue for 3 of the mentioned members was already on the agenda of the HFF's 20th meeting held in December 2020. Those same members had suggested postponing this issue to the next meeting to allow for additional evidence gathering and examination. It is illogical that only 2 days after the meeting, these same members put forth the same issue to the HFF, demanding the convening of an extraordinary meeting.

The request for the extraordinary meeting was set for January 20, which is not a reasonable timeframe, as according to the HFF statute, when a request for an extraordinary meeting is submitted by 1/3 of the HFF members, the Executive Committee must organize the meeting within a two-month period. The 9 members, without waiting for the Executive Committee’s scheduled meeting on January 25 and its potential decision, decided on January 21 to convene an extraordinary meeting on February 1, sending the relevant notifications to HFF members.

Given that the aforementioned 9 members did not wait for the Executive Committee’s decision, thereby violating the procedures established by the HFF statute, their initiated extraordinary meeting is illegal, and any decisions made at it cannot have legal force. For this reason, the HFF Executive Committee decided to reject the 9 members' request.

During the Executive Committee meeting, decisions were made regarding the suspension of the 6 HFF members. All grounds for the suspensions have already been published in an article on the HFF official website regarding the Executive Committee meeting. Nevertheless, I would like to highlight the issue of the Sevan FC LLC membership suspension.

On December 26, Sevan FC violated its obligations as an HFF member established by the HFF statute by appealing to the Civil Court of General Jurisdiction against another HFF member, as well as against the HFF itself. As a member of the HFF, Sevan FC, having assumed related obligations, had no right to appeal to the General Jurisdiction Court. According to HFF regulations, any disputes are to be resolved within the framework of the HFF legal bodies, with the Lausanne International Arbitration Court serving as the final instance.

I would also like to address the suspension of Dilijan FC LLC from HFF membership, detailing one incident. A day or two before the HFF's regular meeting last December, Dilijan FC LLC attempted to change its delegate, introducing a person who had no working or any other relationship with that club, who was involved as a representative of a legal firm or individual lawyer operating within the territory of the Republic of Armenia. Moreover, the previously introduced delegate had been authorized by the club’s director, who did not have the authority to perform such functions, as he had been permanently disqualified by the Armenian Football Federation due to his involvement in matches since July 2020. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the proposed new delegate had acted as a representative of another HFF member, Vanadzor Football Academy NGO, during the HFF extraordinary meeting held in December 2019. This situation raises significant doubts that Dilijan FC LLC grossly violates one of the provisions of the HFF statute by failing to ensure its operational independence and allowing third-party interference.

In conclusion, I would like to add that all suspensions are temporary in nature. All members have been suspended until the next meeting, and according to the statute, all suspensions will take on final effect as a result of the meeting's decision. However, if the aforementioned clubs meet the requirements for HFF membership obligations before the next HFF meeting, the same Executive Committee is authorized to lift those suspensions.”