YEREVAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS. Today’s Cabinet meeting addressed the issue of building a new modern stadium in Armenia, and President of the Football Federation (FFA) Arthur Vanetsyan, who is also the National Security Director, requested the government to allocate territory.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed his stance, noting that building a sports stadium is very important because it will enable the country to host international games.

“But this stadium shouldn’t be constructed at the expense of green areas, central Yerevan not only doesn’t have space left for a stadium but also for a simple building,” the PM said.

Vanetsyan responded by saying that Armenia has a problem today regarding the matter. “Because of not having a modern stadium UEFA can disqualify the stadium that we have because it doesn’t comply with standards, and today we have a need to build a new one,” Vanetsyan said.

Chief of Staff of the PM’s Office Eduard Aghajanyan asked about the fate of the Hrazdan stadium.

“Huge investments are needed in order for Hrazdan stadium to become in line with international standards,” Vanetsyan said.

Vanetsyan argues that the most important issue regarding stadiums today is the security issue.

“That is, cars from all sides, roads, evacuation, meaning, we oughta be able to evacuate the stadium in 15-20 minutes [if needed], it is simply impossible to bring Hrazdan stadium to these norms,” he said.

He said they are negotiating with the owner of the stadium on a possible renovation for holding local championships.

Pashinyan told the Cabinet to boost ongoing discussions over this matter.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan