Football Federation of Armenia

The Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) (Armenian: Հայաստանի Ֆուտբոլի Ֆեդերացիա, Hayastani Futboli Federats’ia) is the governing body of association football in Armenia. Its headquarters are located in Yerevan.

Football Federation of Armenia
UEFA
FoundedJanuary 18, 1992; 30 years ago
HeadquartersYerevan
FIFA affiliation1992
UEFA affiliation1992
PresidentArmen Melikbekyan
Websitehttp://www.ffa.am

The Federation organizes the Armenian Premier League, the Armenian First League, the Armenian Super Cup, the Armenian Independence Cup, and the Armenian Futsal Premier League. It is responsible for appointing the management of the Armenia national football team, and the Armenia women's national football team. The Armenia national futsal team is also managed by the Federation.

The FFA was awarded a synthetic football turf pitch by FIFA through its GOAL programme.[1]

History

Armenia's official football history began in the early 1990s, but its traditions with the sport dates back further. The collapse of the Soviet Union and Armenia's declaration of independence in 1991 were significant moments in the country's sporting development, as well as in its political history. From a footballing perspective, those events prompted the founding, on 18 January 1992, of the Football Federation of Armenia.

The FFA duly became a member of the game's world and European governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA, in 1992.[2][3] The national team made their competitive debut in qualification for the 1996 UEFA European Championship. Armenia kicked off with a 2–0 defeat against Belgium on 7 September 1994 yet also made history in that EURO '96 campaign. The team recorded their first competitive victory when they won 2–1 against FYR Macedonia on 6 September 1995. Since then, Armenia has been a permanent fixture in EURO and World Cup qualifying tournaments, earning the notable achievement of finishing third in their UEFA Euro 2012 group, during which, talismanic attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who then played in FC Shakhtar Donetsk, emerged as a player of top international caliber.

On an infrastructure level, work began in 2007 on a national-team training center and academy with residential facilities. The center opened in September 2010. The Yerevan Republican Stadium has also been partly redeveloped, with one particular benefit of this initiative being its impressive new playing surface.[4] In recent years, around 90 small stadiums have been built throughout Armenia with the support of FIFA and the Government of Armenia.

On 15 June 2022, President of FIFA Gianni Infantino paid an official visit to Armenia to participate in events dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Football Federation of Armenia. Infantino pledged his support to develop football in Armenia. Infantino met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and advised that FIFA will continue to support Armenia in the development of football infrastructure, including with the construction of a new national stadium.[5]

Structure

Presidents
  • Nikolay Ghazaryan (1992–1994)
  • Armen Sargsyan (1994–1998)
  • Suren Abrahamyan (1998–2002)
  • Ruben Hayrapetyan (2002–2018)
  • Artur Vanetsyan (2018-2019)
  • Armen Melikbekyan (2019–present)

See also

References
  1. "Goal supporting Armenia". FIFA. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  2. "About FFA". Football Federation of Armenia. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  3. "Armenia always a football hotbed". UEFA. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  4. "Soccer: Armenia fans gear for home match after Havakakan's two away wins". ArmeniaNow. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  5. "FIFA's Infantino pledges support to the construction of new national stadium in Armenia". armradio.am. Retrieved 16 June 2022.

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