The Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) ( hy, Հայաստանի Ֆուտբոլի Ֆեդերացիա, ''Hayastani Futboli Federats’ia'') is the governing body of
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
in
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
. Its headquarters are located in
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...
.
The Federation organizes the
Armenian Premier League
The Armenian Premier League ( hy, VBET Հայաստանի Պրեմիեր Լիգա, known as the VBET Armenian Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football, football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the compet ...
, the
Armenian First League, the
Armenian Super Cup
The Armenian Supercup is a match that is played between the Armenian Premier League Champion and Armenian Cup
The VBET Armenian Cup ( hy, Հայաստանի Անկախության Գավաթ) is the main football (soccer), football cup competitio ...
, the
Armenian Independence Cup
The VBET Armenian Cup ( hy, Հայաստանի Անկախության Գավաթ) is the main football cup competition of Armenia. In its original form as the Armenian Cup, it started in 1939, when Armenia was a republic of the Soviet Union. It s ...
, and the
Armenian Futsal Premier League
The Premier League is the premier futsal league in Armenia. It was founded in 1998. The Premier League, which is played under UEFA rules and is organized by the Football Federation of Armenia, currently consists of 5 teams.
2017-18 teams
Current ...
. It is responsible for appointing the management of the
Armenia national football team
The Armenia national football team ( hy, Հայաստանի ֆուտբոլի ազգային հավաքական, ''Hayastani futboli azgayin havak'akan'') represents Armenia in association football and is controlled by the Football Federation of ...
, and the
Armenia women's national football team. The
Armenia national futsal team
The Armenia national futsal team is managed by the Football Federation of Armenia, the governing body for futsal in Armenia and represents the country in international futsal competitions, such as the World Cup and the European Championships.
Co ...
is also managed by the Federation.
The FFA was awarded a synthetic football turf pitch by
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
through its GOAL programme.
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
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and Armenia's
declaration of independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
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
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
and
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
, in 1992. 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
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
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
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
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
The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...
group, during which, talismanic attacking midfielder
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Henrikh Mkhitaryan ( hy, Հենրիխ Մխիթարյան, ; born 21 January 1989) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for club Inter Milan.
Mkhitaryan won four Armenian Premier League title ...
, who then played in
FC Shakhtar Donetsk
Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was ...
, 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. In recent years, around 90 small stadiums have been built throughout Armenia with the support of FIFA and the
Government of Armenia
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, Executive (government), e ...
.
On 15 June 2022,
President of FIFA
The following is a list of presidents of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the world association football governing body.
Presidents Daniel Burley Woolfall, Rodolphe Seeldrayers, and Arthur Drewry died during the ...
Gianni Infantino
Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino (; born 23 March 1970) is a Swiss football administrator with Italian citizenship and the current president of FIFA. He was elected President of FIFA during the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress in February 2016. H ...
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
Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan ( hy, Նիկոլ Վովայի Փաշինյան, ; born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018.
A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in 1 ...
and advised that FIFA will continue to support Armenia in the development of football infrastructure, including with the construction of a new national stadium.
Structure
Presidents
*
Nikolay Ghazaryan (1992–1994)
*
Armen Sargsyan
Armen Vardani Sarkissian ( hy, Արմեն Վարդանի Սարգսյան; also written as Sarksyan and Sargsyan) (born 23 June 1952) is an Armenian politician, physicist and computer scientist who served as the 4th president of Armenia from 9 A ...
(1994–1998)
*
Suren Abrahamyan
Surena or Suren, also known as Rustaham Suren (died 53 BC) was a Parthian ''spahbed'' ("general" or "commander") during the first century BC. He was the leader of the House of Suren and was best known for defeating the Romans in the Battle of C ...
(1998–2002)
*
Ruben Hayrapetyan
Ruben Rafiki Hayrapetyan ( hy, Ռուբեն Ռաֆիկի Հայրապետյան, born 9 March 1963 in Yerevan, Armenia), also known by his nickname Nemets Rubo (''Rubo The German''), is an Armenian football official, a former member of the Armenia ...
(2002–2018)
*
Artur Vanetsyan
Artur Gagiki Vanetsyan ( hy, Արթուր Գագիկի Վանեցյան, born 9 December 1979) is an Armenian politician who served as the director of the National Security Service of Armenia (2018–2019), president of Football Federation of Arm ...
(2018-2019)
*
Armen Melikbekyan (2019–present)
See also
*
Armenian Table Football Federation
*
List of football clubs in Armenia
*
List of football stadiums in Armenia
References
External links
Football Federation of Armeniaat FIFA site
at UEFA site
{{Portal bar, Sport, Association football
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
Football in Armenia
Futsal in Armenia
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
Sports organizations established in 1992
1992 establishments in Armenia
Association football governing bodies