In Armenian football, the FFA-Noa conflict continues to deepen and has reached a new, much more serious stage. If until now the disagreements of the parties were mainly at the level of disputes over public announcements, regulations and the limitation of legionnaires, now the issue has also been moved to the court.
According to our information, "Noa" has already appealed to the court, disputing the restrictions on legionnaires established by the FFA. In particular, we are talking about the limitation of 15 legionnaires. Moreover, "Noa" tried to involve other clubs in this process. At the initial stage, several clubs agreed to join the initiative, but at the time of going to court, they withdrew their signatures. FFA did not respond to our questions about Noah's appeal to court, but according to our information, the federation is preparing a legal countermeasure and may file a counterclaim.
The most important thing in this story is that the conflict between the parties is not only about the issue of how many legions the Armenian club can have. The logic of the FFA for years has been that Armenian football players should have enough playing time in the Armenian Championship so that they are ready to play in the national and youth teams in the future. "Noa's" position, however, clearly contradicts this approach. FFA believes that "Noa" is against Armenian football players playing, against Armenian football players getting playing time. "Noah", for his part, believes that the FFA is preventing him from advancing the club's business model, buying players, training quality legionnaires and selling them to other clubs. The next president: Does "Noa" have a candidate? Against the background of the deepening of the FFA-"Noa" conflict, the upcoming election of the FFA president is also gaining special interest. Armen Melikbekyan announced that he will not run for new elections. It seemed that this should weaken his position and allow various groups to quickly promote their own candidates, but the situation is not so clear.
It has not been a secret in football circles for a long time that "Noa" would like to have a candidate acceptable to him for the position of FFA president. In this context, the name of the club's favorite Sisak Gabrielyan was circulated for a long time, but Gabrielyan refused to run. It is interesting that other Armenian clubs do not actively discuss this topic, but, according to our information, they are against the candidate of "Noa". And here a rather serious problem arises for "Noah". at the moment, the club does not have another clearly formed and fully acceptable candidate. In other words, if "Noah" really wants to influence the formation of the FFA leadership, then time is not working in his favor. There is no preferred candidate, and the elections are approaching. But in this mixture of politics and football, there is not an empty place for long. Recently, Ruben Nazaretyan's name is being circulated more actively as a possible candidate. However, the most interesting detail about Nazaretyan is not only his football biography. Football and political circles have been talking about his and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's very warm, even family-level closeness for a long time.
That circumstance immediately makes him an interesting candidate not only from a football point of view, but also from a political point of view. In any case, Nazaretyan, at the moment, does not have a clear answer to the issue of being a presidential candidate. Moreover, at the moment, he does not have the support of the government circles involved in football. However, here too, everything is not so unambiguous. Another name that is actively circulating is Mkhitar Hayrapetyan. And in his case, there is also an important factor: Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's trust in him. Hayrapetyan is a person who has already come a long way in the political system, and his name appearing among the possible candidates for the position of the FFA president shows that the future election may go beyond just football. So, on the one hand, Nazaretyan, on the other hand, Hayrapetyan, and on the third side, the lack of a clear candidate for "Noa" at the moment. And this is where the story starts to get more interesting. At first glance, the statement of the current president that he will not run for office should have meant a decrease in his influence, but in reality the situation is different. Armen Melikbekyan created a wide network of not only football, but also international connections during the years of leading the FFA.
In 2025, he was elected a member of the UEFA Executive Committee, and in 2026, the Armenia-Georgia joint bid won the right to host the 2029 FIFA U-20 World Cup. The last circumstance is especially important. This is an event of historical significance for Armenia. But there is another connection, which is talked about a lot in football and political circles, the Melikbekyan-Pashinyan connection, which has always been quite warm. Armen Melikbekyan's statement "I will not be nominated" still means nothing. Although his relatives continue to state that he has no desire to remain in the position of FFA president.
In any case, if the head of the country says that he should stay, then Melikbekyan will stay and continue to lead. One more fact that makes all this even more interesting. If Armen Melikbekyan is not nominated, he will have a clear influence on the next candidate for the FFA president, his opinion will definitely be important. Regardless of all the rumors and facts, one thing is clear: Nikol Pashinyan has not yet made a final decision on who can be the next president of the FFA.
