Artur Soghomonyan: I want to remind that CSKA is not a 'private shop' of Mr. Melikbekyan

The owner of football club Pyunik Artur Soghomonyan in a conversation with the press service of the club responded to the statements of the Football Federation of Armenia after his interview, and also noted what his actions would be if a representative of our club is not elected to the executive committee of the FFA.

The reaction of the FFA to Pyunik's statement has come out, what do you think about it?

From life experience I know: when dealing with professionals, the dialogue is based on concrete facts, logical arguments, and can lead to a constructive solution. If you have to deal with dilettantes, you must be prepared that they will try to move the dialogue to the emotional plane, using insults and threats, such disputes, as a rule, come to nothing.

Unfortunately, we did not get a single serious argument or confirmed fact, refuting the essence of our claims to the FFA. But we got a lot of insults and threats.

The FFA leadership declared that they will bring a criminal case against you and will make you apologize to the court.

If they really have arguments to prove we were wrong, I will be more than happy to apologize to them as I am more interested in the development of Armenian football and investing my own money in it. No court is needed for that.

As for the threats of a criminal case - I take it as another empty statement of the FFA management to intimidate me personally. This reaction only confirms once again that we are right!

The football federation of Armenia also put up two videos on its channel with the answers of the executive stuff about this situation. Did you manage to watch them?

Yes. I was hoping to hear some constructive remarks, maybe we are really wrong in some issues or we do not know the whole situation. But there was nothing but emotional expressions and insults against our club.

Moreover, I wonder why these employees are answering our questions, and even in such a strange way!

Both of the speakers addressed you personally, did you communicate with them?

I am not familiar with Mr. Melikbekyan's assistant, Ruben Nazaretyan. Regarding his statements, I can only say that it was more like uncivilized, "street talk" filled with obvious lies and insults. I am certainly not going to stoop to talking to this man! The main thing I understood after watching it is that the problems in the Federation are much deeper than we imagine.

And what do you think about the statements made by Rafael Nazaryan, CSKA and Armenian youth national team coach?

I have always respected that coach, but after watching that video I was very disappointed. It was unpleasant to hear the lie that Mr. Melikbekyan never interferes in CSKA. I would like to remind Rafael of our last conversation in which he claimed the opposite.

It is also incorrect of him to assess the work of the coaching staff of FC Pyunik with their pupils. It is outside of elementary coaching ethics.

But I want to dwell especially on one of his statements! Mr. Nazaryan was very emotional and detailed when he said that he is always guided only by the principles of sport. And then he repeated twice that he would ask Mr. Melikbekyan not to call the players of FC "Pyunik" in CSKA.

With this statement Rafael Nazaryan not only contradicts himself, but also cynically threatens our club, as well as destroys the sporting principles in the whole Armenian football.

It was surprising to hear such threats from the coach of the Armenian youth team.

I want to remind that CSKA is not a "private shop" of Mr. Melikbekyan. Pyunik football club has the same rights as the other clubs, regardless of whether Mr. Nazaryan likes or not our complaints about the FFA.

Mr. Soghomonyan, does the president of the FFA have the power to make such decisions without his approval?

As far as I know no. Approval of the executive committee of the Football Federation is required. According to my information the main goal of the today's FFA management is to elect a fully loyal and controlled FFA executive committee on December 28. If this happens, all the power will be in the hands of Melikbekyan and Nikoghosyan. They will make the laws themselves and control their implementation, that is, they will ask themselves. No other opinion will be accepted. At this point, they can pass any law, even such an absurd one, as deprivation of rights of a particular club.

In the history of Armenian football there was such a situation, it did not lead to anything good. Being perfectly aware of the professional level of these people and their attitude to the business, I am sure that the development of football in Armenia in the coming years will have to forget.

Elections to the executive committee are just days away. In your previous interview you mentioned a high probability that our representative will not be elected because of the position of the club. What will be your actions if the club will not have a representative in the executive committee of the FFA?

It is obvious that the purpose of these elections is not to strengthen the structure for managing the development of football in the country, but to elect an absolutely loyal FFA executive committee. This is the first step in preparation for the election of Mr. Melikbekyan as the president of the Football Federation next year for the next four years. We all know that Mr. Nikoghosyan is actively working to keep his Pyunik representative out of the FFA executive committee.

It's hard for me to predict what position the FFA members entitled to vote will take in the upcoming elections, as many do not want to quarrel with the current FFA management or depend on them for some reason.

I just want to remind that Mr. Melikbekyan doesn't dispose his own means but those which rightfully belong to all members of Armenian Football Federation.

But if the current authorities of the FFA manage to block the entry of Pyunik FC representative to the FFA executive committee, we will carry on fighting for the purity of Armenian football as the current members of the FFA. And we will work in the public field, to bring our position to the public. One of its points is that Mr. Melikbekyan and Mr. Nikoghosyan are out of line and should immediately resign.

Mr. Soghomonyan, would you like to add anything else?

Yes, I hope in their next actions, the FFA management will be more correct with regard to the football club Pyunik. I personally appeal to them with a convincing request: do not disgrace yourself and the whole Armenian football with low-ball, made-to-order commercials, filled with threats and insults!

If there are specific arguments or facts that prove our claims wrong, we are ready to listen to them or get comments in writing, but it's not constructive to conduct a dialogue in the form that the FFA has chosen.

If even this is difficult for them, let the FFA management demonstrate what progress they have made in three years of management.