On October 11-14 in Kishinev the Third International Football Tournament Among CIS Journalists took place. (The fist two tournaments were held in Saint-Petersburg in 1999 and in Baku – 2000). The competition was organized under the patronage of Moldova President Vladimir Voronin; 6 teams took part – from Armenia, Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. The hosts, the team of Moldova journalists, became the award-winners of the Tournament. The second place was won by the Belarus journalists. The third place was awarded to our colleagues, the team of Armenian journalists.
The Armenian team included, in particular, representatives of “A1+” TV company, “02” newspaper, “Arminfo” and “Mediamax” news agencies, correspondents of foreign media in Armenia. Besides the Cup, the bronze winners also received special prizes: to Mher Badalian (the best forward of the Tournament) and to coach Ashot Yardumian (who played in a Moldova football team 33 years ago).
The Tournament was finalized by a gala match between the combined team of journalists and the team of Moldova Government and Parliament. Armenia was presented in the journalists’ team by the captain of Armenian team Tigran Hovhannissian and Mher Badalian. The latter one was also distinguished here: he saved the team from a defeat by hitting a goal during the last few minutes and ending the game in a draw – 3:3 (by the way, the hat-trick was made by the Moldova Prime Minister Vasily Tarlev).
As YPC was told by the captain of the Armenian team Tigran Hovhannissian, the President of the Association of Foreign Correspondents and the correspondent of the Russian “Interfax” news agency, the participation of our team in the Tournament was possible through the sponsorship by the RA President Robert Kocharian and the RA Prime Minister Andranik Margarian.
