Deputy Minister's Son Registers as Football Player to Avoid Military Service

According to the newspaper "Zhoghovurd", "Yerevan's Pyunik football club's head coach Yeghishe Melikyan has recently stated in an interview with 168.am, 'You can sue me, send the police after me. I officially say that the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) has acted in gross violation of the law. Mr. Melikbekyan, Mr. Nikoghosyan, you are obstructing me.' He recounted that the police raided the Pyunik academy to deliver a notice to the club's owner, Artur Sogomonian, for having his own opinion, and they did so in a rather audacious manner.

So what initiated this story? It turns out that Artur Sogomonian, the owner of the Pyunik football club, said in an interview on December 16 last year, 'The Central Sports Club of the Army began inviting paid football players, and Melikbekyan himself started managing the football team, which I believe fundamentally contradicts the responsibilities we placed upon him. The saddest thing is that BCMA-2 has become a means for some acquaintances and certain authorities to avoid military service. I classify this as treachery against both football and national interests, especially in this very challenging time for Armenia.' To substantiate my point, let me mention that we had a player in our academy whose name I do not wish to disclose to avoid harming the young man; his father worked in the legal department of FFA, and his mother is a high-ranking official. At the beginning of last year, his father came to the club and demanded that his son be included in the main team so that he could later be incorporated into BCMA and the age group national team. He also threatened that otherwise, the coach would face significant issues, as they are influential people.

Our coach, the well-known Serbian expert Goran Aleksic, was perplexed and called me, saying he was receiving instructions and even threats from a federation employee but refused to comply, arguing there are peers around the same age and even younger who are much stronger and skilled players. I verified this information; all the coaches confirmed that the player's attributes are average and that there are many more talented boys in that age group. Ultimately, the father managed to place his son in another club through Melikyan, where he has yet to play any matches, and subsequently, he was registered in the U-19 national team and BCMA-2.

In other words, the FFA has turned BCMA into a club for those fleeing the military. Those who want their children to serve in the military under good conditions 'arrange' for them to end up in BCMA, supposedly to continue their football career even in the army, but in reality, when their service period ends, they leave football altogether. The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" has had several publications regarding this matter. And now, FFA President Armen Melikbekyan and Deputy Armen Nikoghosyan have decided to engage with representatives of the football world through the police to uncover this truth. Having the unwavering support of Nikol Pashinyan, the FFA president has launched a campaign against the owner of the Pyunik football club (having filed a lawsuit, etc.).

As for the young man mentioned by the owner of Pyunik, according to "Zhoghovurd," he is Tigran Sargsyan, whose mother is Christine Ghaletyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan, and his father, Davit Sargsyan, is a loyal person to the FFA President Armen Melikbekyan, who is part of the Appeals Committee and a member of the FFA Executive Committee. In any case, his details match Sogomonian's statements.

It should be noted that among the first draft's 23 football players included in the BCMA team, currently, 9 are not engaged in football.

For more details, refer to the current issue of the newspaper.