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• Alert the Press! No, don’t!

They both were probably summoned by chess federation head:))))...

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Journalists gathered today with great anticipation to hear Armenian Football Federation president/oligarch Ruben Hayrapetyan defend himself against disparaging comments from the head of the National Olympic Committee/Prosperous Armenia political party boss/National Assembly Deputy/oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan.

The football federation had called the press conference, promising a response from Hayrapetyan to Tsarukyan’s recent comments that he (Tsarukyan) did not attend the October Turkey-Armenia football match, because he “knew they (Armenia) were going to lose anyway”.

Hayrapetyan called Tsarukyan’s comment “immoral”. Tsarukyan’s party fired back that “our people see very well who and how successful manages the sphere he has been put in charge of. For years such a sensitive sphere for Armenian sport fans as soccer has been in sad state…” (Tsarukyan, a former world champ in arm wrestling, oversees the Armenian weightlifting team that finished third overall at world championships last week and also produced a world champion. Hayrapetyan’s national football team has produced . . . not much.)

So the stage was set for a verbal showdown, called by Hayrapetyan, who had been called out by Tsarukyan, widely considered the most powerful (and feared) man in Armenia.

The Ararat Press Club was prepared. Pundits poised. Cameras aimed . . .
Hairapetyan didn’t show.

Tigran Israyelyan, press secretary of Armenia’s Football Federation, told ArmeniaNow that Hayrapetyan did not make it to the press conference because he was at a meeting with the representatives of European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, visiting Armenia.

Cameras photographed an empty chair and journalists speculated on the wisdom of calling a press conference at the same time a UEFA meeting is scheduled – as such meetings typically are well advanced.

Journalists also speculated on whether, when tangling with a former arm wrestling champ-turned-political power broker, perhaps silence is the safest rebuttal.