Ruben Hayrapetyan displeased with rural mentality
Chairman of the Armenian Football Federation has issued a statement concerning the election of the best athlete in 2012.
"The Federation of Sports Journalists of Armenia has again published the list of the best athletes of the year, which is nothing more than a regular and continuous attempt to discredit sport in Armenia, Ruben Hayrapetyan said in the statement.
"People, who manage sports in Armenia today, simply disgrace and blacken it with their actions and approaches. Sport is not an arena for provincial buffoonery. rural mentality is unacceptable in sports. Here you cannot humiliate people and bind your personal opinions to the public under the guise of reality.
The list of the best athletes should reflect the moods of the public and not the feelings of people who are attempting to hide their failures under the guise of similar tomfoolery," the Federation's website cites Mr Hayrapetyan as saying.
As a result of a survey conducted by the Federation of Sports Journalists of Armenia, London 2012 silver medal-winner, Greco-Roman wrestler Arsen Julfalakyan has been recognized as Armenia's best athlete of 2012.
In the questionnaire the country's sports journalists mentioned five football players - Henrik Mkhitaryan, Yura Movsisyan, Roman Berezovski, Sargis Hovsepyan and Aras Özbiliz but none of them was included in the list of top ten sportsmen who are awarded annually by the National Olympic Committee of Armenia.
