Pashinyan's Football Comment Sparks Laughter in the Hall

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" reports: On June 15, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended an event dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Armenian Football Federation alongside other government officials. The event also saw the participation of FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin. Notably, one of the statements made by the prime minister that day caught considerable attention. He stated, "In the strategy for Armenia's transformation until 2050, we have outlined the following goal: the Armenian national football team must become a prize winner in the World or European Championship."

In light of the recent losses, this announcement left attendees puzzled; some merely clapped, while others couldn't restrain their laughter, surprised that the prime minister appeared so disconnected from reality. However, this isn’t solely the fault of the prime minister; it also reflects on the President of the Football Federation, Armen Melikbekyan, who still believes that he and the federation are making progress. A source from the event remarked with a smirk that if things continue at this pace, by 2050, Armenia might not even have football. The issue is that even in the football academy operating under the federation's leadership, adequate training sessions are not being conducted, and they do not even possess an athletics track. In such a scenario, Pashinyan speaks about becoming champions.

The full article is available in today’s issue of the newspaper.