Fight Between Urartu and Pyunik Football Teams
On August 20, during the fourth round of the Football Premier League of Armenia, Yerevan's Urartu faced off against Pyunik at home. The teams failed to determine a winner, with the match ending in a draw, each team scoring one goal.
One of the noteworthy moments of the match occurred towards the end, during the referee's added time. During a play, players from the two Yerevan clubs misunderstood each other, leading to a scuffle. This was reported by Hraparak.
Sports commentator Robert Gasparyan wrote on his Facebook page: "Yesterday, during the press conference, Yeghishe Melikyan justified Edgar Malakyan's red card by stating, 'Well, he’s a big guy, 33 years old, and some 22-year-old foreigner scored on him.' With all due respect, I don’t accept that. For me, professionalism must come before everything. In this case, I am not saying they are not professional; rather, this is unprofessional behavior. Mass brawls need to be eradicated, and provincial mentality must be removed from Armenian football.
As long as post-match discussions dominate Armenian football, where tensions do not calm for two days, where issues are resolved among ‘the boys’, and where players and other associated individuals inflict physical harm on each other (which is even more terrifying), we will not progress. After the game, discussing topics outside, bringing in outsiders, going back and forth with multiple cars, calling people to bring them for confrontation... Enough, guys. This is football. If you want to get into brawls, hang your boots on a nail and go."