The 31st championship of the Armenian Football Fastex Premier League has ended. It is time to make some important conclusions. Iravaban.net spoke with Gerasim Barseghyan, Executive Director of the “Yerevan Higher School of Football Management” Foundation, about the achievements and problems of the championship.
– What achievements did the 31st Championship of the Armenian Football Fastex Premier League record?
– First of all, starting from the spring part of the championship, the introduction of the VAR system was essential in terms of ensuring the principle of justice and making high-quality refereeing decisions. Of course, the system has not yet been fully adapted to our football realities, but in general we can talk about a significant qualitative change.
Stadiums were in much better condition than during the previous championship. If we also add the activation of the lighting system in the stadiums of Gyumri and Abovyan, which made it possible to organize the championship games at the most favorable time of day for football fans, then the picture will become more complete.
Ten teams started the championship and the same number crossed the finish line. At first glance, it may not be appropriate to mark this circumstance as an achievement, but considering the sad tradition of recent years, it is perhaps it would be worth emphasizing.
The championship was definitely competitive. Four teams: Urartu, Pyunik, Ararat-Armenia and Alashkert created the atmosphere and ensured the hot and quality competition. Already during this championship, we can state that at least two fundamental derbies took place: Yerevan, Urartu-Pyunik, and the “Number One” derby, which does not have a clear name yet, Pyunik-Ararat-Armenia. Naturally, these teams still have to do a lot of work to make the above confrontations more uncompromising and more impressive and effective in terms of performance, but at the moment we can state that their stable prerequisites are more than present.
Gradually more quality legionnaires appear in Armenian clubs. In order to occupy a starting place in this championship, there was a hot competition among some of the leading teams, especially between them. Of course, the playing level of Armenian football players has also increased significantly.
– And what are the problems of the 31st championship of the Armenian Football Fastex Premier League?
Against the background of the achievements mentioned above, there are not a few highlighted problems that directly or indirectly affect the quality of the championship.
Let’s focus on systemic problems. The creation of a professional league was also postponed within the framework of this championship, and there is no reason to claim that it will be established as a fact in the upcoming season. It is difficult to say unequivocally which interested party is delaying this process: the FFA or the clubs, or maybe both together? However, it is obvious that the cart does not move from its place in any way. However, the existence of the league would fundamentally solve a number of important problems. First of all, from the point of view of management, it is highly advisable to separate the organizer and the host of the tournament on the one hand, and the policy maker, evaluator and supervisor on the other hand. In other words, “legislative” and “executive” functions will be performed by different structures, which is absolutely inevitable from the point of view of transparent and accountable management. Many problems will automatically be solved in this context.
The so-called problem of the return of high-quality football in the regions of the Republic of Armenia is related to the previous issue, perhaps not directly, but to a certain extent. Only three of the 10 teams participating in the 31st Championship of the Armenian Football Fastex Premier League had non-Yerevan registration. According to all, their number will decrease by one more next year. Under these conditions, we can talk more about Yerevan Open Championship rather than the championship of the RA. Of course, solving this problem requires maximum efforts and resources. It is undeniable that only the capabilities of local individual initiators and local governments are not sufficient in terms of founding and managing football clubs. In this regard, the intervention of the Government is highly important, which can support the development of regional football with subsidy programs. The mechanism is quite simple. 50 percent of the annual budget for the creation of the clubs and operation is invested by the community and the initiative group, and the Government allocates the second part. In this way, it is possible to bring back the great football to the marzes, which in fact will not only be of a sporting nature, but also, no less important, will serve as an important means of socialization for the youth.
These systemic issues, as well as a number of problems in the domain of club management, in general, continue to affect the quality of the championship. However, they require deeper and comprehensive studies and, of course, are beyond the scope of the given material.
