FFA President denies resignation amid criticism over defeats

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armen Melikbekyan, President of the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA), addressed ongoing criticism during a press conference, stating that a coordinated campaign is being waged against the organization and that “there is a group of people who want the national team to lose in order to have grounds for criticism.”

“There is a clearly planned campaign against the FFA. In many cases, the accusations and rumors have nothing to do with reality,” he said, according to Panorama.am .

Melikbekyan also acknowledged that this doesn’t mean their work is flawless or free from criticism.

“There is plenty of criticism. There is constructive criticism as well,” he noted.

He commented on the national team’s recent defeats to Georgia, emphasizing their severity: “We understand they were heavy losses, especially considering that we haven’t suffered defeats by such a wide margin in the last two years.”

“The entire staff of the federation, the players, we all take these losses very hard — much harder than many of those who constantly write about them. In reality, there is a group that really wants to see these losses to have yet another reason to criticize,” he added.

According to Melikbekyan, the FFA is analyzing the defeats to identify their root causes: “Everyone is to blame for these defeats — the entire team, the coaches, the FFA,” he said, as reported by Armenpress.

He also made it clear he will not resign: “I’ve said I will not resign. Shameful defeats and so on... I repeat — those who want to see and hear, do; those who don’t, won’t,” he stated, according to Aysor.am .

In recent weeks, following Armenia's heavily criticized performances, national team fan clubs have organized protests demanding FFA President Armen Melikbekyan’s resignation. During the UEFA Nations League play-off stage, Armenia’s national team lost both matches to Georgia by a combined score of 9-1.