On June 27 the international mini-football tournament for the Cup “Dialog of Civilizations” was finalized at Yerevan “Dynamo” sports hall. The tournament had been organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of Armenia with the assistance of the UN Armenia Office, Armenian Football Federation, the US and Iran Embassies in Armenia. The tournament gave the pitch to the teams of the diplomatic missions accredited in Armenia, the expatriates, currently residing in Armenia, journalists (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, June 2-8, 2001).
Unfortunately, the journalists’ team was not among the four leaders. The Cup “Dialog of Civilizations” was awarded to the team of Iran Embassy, who won the final game with “Expat” FC, scoring 5:1. On the same day, June 27, the match for the third place was held. The bronze winner was the team of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who took the victory over the Embassy of Germany, scoring 5:2.
The players who excelled at the tournament were awarded encouraging prizes. In particular, the President of the Foreign Correspondents Association Tigran Hovhannissian received a prize as the best captain, and a member of the journalists’ team, the playing trainer Ashot Yardumian – as the oldest player. The monetary prize of 150,000 drams (about $270) from Iran Embassy was awarded to the team of Foreign Affairs Ministry for fair play.
All funds raised during the sale of the tickets, as well as the prize of Armenian diplomats, were transferred to the five disabled children, present at the closing ceremony of the tournament.
