Former Armenia player Aras Ozbiliz lambasts federation executives for ‘destroying’ football

Retired Armenian football player Aras Ozbiliz rebuked the football federation executives after the national team’s 6:1 second leg loss to Georgia.

Armenia had lost the UEFA Nations League play-off first leg versus Georgia 3:0.

Ozbiliz, the former Armenia midfielder who unsuccessfully ran for the presidency of the football federation in 2023, issued a statement after the 6:1 loss, lambasting the current football executives for “destroying” the sport.

“A year and three months ago I ran for the presidency of the Football Federation of Armenia, knowing I had no chance. All this time I was silent, but I won’t be silent anymore because you are destroying our football. They were saying I don’t have management experience, but you are the ones failing in this arena. The fact that you have no clue about football is clear to everyone. But you don’t even know how to manage football. You have failed in management, organization, legal, financial and media sectors. The worst thing is that the hope and faith is fading away. You can win or lose in football, but this defeat is the result of everything that’s been going on in Armenian football for a long time. It’s time to realize this and make changes,” Ozbiliz said in the statement.

Football Federation of Armenia President Armen Melikbekyan, who had faced calls for resignation in the past also, told reporters after the 6:1 loss that the team will overcome the challenging period. “We had a lengthy discussion with the team…We had a lengthy conversation and we concluded that we are ready to accept this challenge,” he said. Melikbekyan apologized to the Armenian society for the recent bad results. “But after a lengthy conversation we are now sure that we can move forward as a team regardless of the negativity…we are ready to overcome all difficulties…”