Sports: Team named after Artsakh joins Armenian football league

Public Television of Armenia
Aug 1 2017


Team named after Artsakh joins Armenian football league

[Armenian News note: the below is translated from Armenian]


A football team named Artsakh (Armenian name for Azerbaijan's
breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region) will be playing in the Armenian
first league (second tier) from September, Armenian Public TV reported
on 1 August.

Tigran Yesayan, the coach of the Yerevan-based team, which includes
players also from Nagorno-Karabakh, said that the team is planning to
qualify for the Europa League and represent Karabakh in Europe. If the
team qualifies into Armenia's premier league in a year, it will also
open youth teams in Karabakh capital Stepanakert (Xankandi), the
channel said.

According to the Public TV, in Europe, the Artsakh team will
"counterbalance" the Baku-funded Karabakh Wien team playing in the
Austrian Regionalliga (third tier).

"There is the Karabakh [Qarabag] football club in Azerbaijan, and this
team has been created as a competitor to represent Artsakh and Armenia
in Europe," football player Armen Durunts said.

The team, which is said to be financed by renowned European companies,
will be training at the Mika Stadium in Yerevan. The white-and-red
uniform carries logos of the Renault and SteriTech companies, as shown
by the Public TV.

"The attitude towards the Artsakh team is different, it is more
targeted, as everyone understands that if one day Artsakh plays in the
Europa League, talk around this team will spread all over the world,"
the club's spokesperson Arman Arakelyan said.

BBCM note: The Qarabag FC is originally from the town of Agdam but
have to play their home matches in Baku as Agdam fell to Armenian
forces in 1993 during the Karabakh war. The team is the defending
champion of the Azerbaijani premier league and is currently playing in
the UEFA Champions League qualifying round.