In the next few days, the international structures, in particular the International Arbitration Court, will talk about the termination of the powers of the President of the Armenian National Olympic Committee, Gagik Tsarukyan, as the President of the Olympic Committee of Armenia. Hrachya Rostomyan, General Secretary of the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee, said this in a conversation with Sputnik Armenia.

On April 12, it became known that the Weightlifting Federation of Armenia applied to the court, demanding to recognize the termination of Gagik Tsarukyan’s powers as the president of the Olympic Committee of Armenia. On April 15, Head of the RA Prime Minister’s Office, President of the Weightlifting Federation Arayik Harutyunyan announced that Gagik Tsarukyan no longer has the right to claim the position of the President of the Armenian Olympic Committee, as his 70th birthday is coming to an end.

Rostomyan notes that the Olympic Charter of the International Olympic Committee clearly stipulates that the National Olympic Committees must act independently of state influence, while the RA authorities are trying to resolve some issue in court.

“Removing the president of the National Olympic Committee is not within the jurisdiction of the given country. That decision is decided by the General Special Assembly of the National Olympic Committee or the Arbitration Court of Lausanne, Switzerland. There is no other mechanism. This is proof of how the state apparatus interferes with the activities of the NAOC, which is unacceptable. In the next few days, both the international structures and the international arbitration court will talk about it,” Rostomyan said.

According to him, the International Olympic Committee and International Sports consider persons who violate the International Olympic Committee charter and try to influence the activities of the National Olympic Committee as persona non grata.

Rostomyan also emphasized that the chairman of the committee is elected for a period of 4 years and fulfills his duties until the next elections. The special session of the General Assembly was supposed to be held on April 11, 25 days ago everyone was notified for proposals, and 10 days ago they received the agenda.
There were confirmations from all federations, except for the Weightlifting Federation, which is headed by Araik Harutyunyan, the head of the RA Prime Minister’s Office.

Rostomyan also referred to the idea expressed by Harutyunyan that Tsarukyan can no longer claim the position of the President of the National Olympic Committee, because he is 70 years old. The head of NAOC assured that the age of the chairman of the committee has no significance.

To remind: The Weightlifting Federation demands from the court to recognize as invalid all the decisions and actions taken by Gagik Tsarukyan from September 9, 2025. In addition, they also demand to recognize the powers of the members of the audit committee and the decisions made by them as having ceased from the same date.

Gagik Tsarukyan was elected the president of the NAOC in 2021. on September 9, for a period of 4 years (Tsarukyan has been holding the position of the President of the Ukrainian National Association of Ukrainian Orthodox Churches since 2004 – ed.). The Federation believes that since 2025 Since September 9, new elections have not taken place, which means that the term of office should be recognized as terminated.

The petition was received by the court on April 8 and was addressed to the judge of general jurisdiction of the first instance, Anushavan Musheghyan.

Let us add that from January 22, 2025, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office Araik Harutyunyan will be the president of the Weightlifting Federation.

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