FFA President Doesn’t Want to Develop Women’s Football in Armenia

Those football players who don’t want to play in the Armenian national team have no place there, said Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) President, MP Ruben Hayrapetyan, speaking to journalists in Yerevan today and referring to FC Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast (Yekaterinburg) defender Denis Tumasyan, who was invited to play for the Armenian team ahead of the last two matches (with Andorra and Slovakia), but refused.

“The person who doesn’t want to play on the national team, through pleading, bribing, persuading — we don’t need him. Why didn’t Tumasyan come? Ask him. I don’t know such a man and I don’t want to [know him]… and he’s not even Armenian. Only his surname is Armenian; I found this out recently. He’s not even Armenian — neither his father nor his mother is Armenian. As long as I’m the president of the federation, he won’t set foot in Armenia’s national team,” promised Hayrapetyan.

As for Aras Özbiliz, Hayrapetyan said the defender for Amsterdam’s Ajax was again invited to join the Armenian team, but his participation is currently in doubt.

“Aras Ozbiliz wants to play on our team. They sent the invitation to him again; it just pains me that two days ago, Ozbiliz again received injuries,” said Hayrapetyan.

The FFA President didn’t wish to respond to questions on women’s football at all, wrapping up this subject with simply one sentence: “Women’s football in Armenia hasn’t developed, won’t develop and I don’t even have a desire to develop it.”

Photo: FFA official website