On February 7, around 21.00, the car of football commentator, founder of “Football
Plus” weekly Suren Baghdasarian went on fire. The car was parked near the building
of the editorial office, located on one of Yerevan avenues.
“Football Plus” (February 8, 2006) published information on the incident
titling it “Sly and Low-Grade Revenge”. The piece refers in particular to the
recently voiced confrontation between Suren Baghdasarian and President of Armenian
Football Federation (AFF) Ruben Hairapetian (the latter is also a deputy of
RA National Assembly and a known entrepreneur).
On February 8 the statement of the President of Armenian Football Federation
Ruben Hairapetian was publicized. It notes in particular that Ruben Hairapetian
applied to RA General Prosecutor’s Office to start proceedings against Suren
Baghdasarian for libel and insult, as the latter publicly accused him of organizing
a grave crime.
In the statement, Ruben Hairapetian also said that his activity as AFF President
“has always been open for media. However by publishing frequently unverified
facts, the media voiced accusations, made ungrounded assumptions to which I,
nevertheless, consciously did not answer”. “I think all have a right for a personal
point of view. How far these opinions are conditioned by the prospect of football
development and to what extent they are dictated by the people with totally
different interests is another matter. It is already left to the conscience
and morals of each medium and each individual”, Ruben Hairapetian’s statement
emphasized.
