ARMNOC staff and athletes support detained President Tsarukyan

The Armenian National Olympic Committee and Olympic medallist Arsen Julfalakyan have publicly condemned the arrest of the organisation’s president, warning of severe damage to the nation’s sporting and international standing.

The entire staff of the National Olympic Committee of Armenia has issued a statement expressing ‘deep concern and full support’ for their detained leader Gagik Tsarukyan. Placing themselves firmly beside Gagik Tsarukyan and his family, the organisation wished the 70-year-old a swift return to freedom, offering his relatives “strength, endurance, patience, and faith to overcome this ordeal.”

Tsarukyan, who has served as ARMNOC President since 2004, has been remanded in custody for two months amid sweeping fraud and money laundering allegations totalling $21 million.

In a message relayed from custody, Tsarukyan thanked the growing list of public figures supporting him. “Our people have great potential,” he stated. “We can straighten our backs, we can restore our self-confidence, and we have a lot to say to the world – whether in culture, science, or sport, in all fields.”

The heavy-handed nature of Tsarukyan’s arrest has drawn fierce criticism from across the sporting spectrum, notably from Olympic silver medallist and former world champion Greco-Roman wrestler, United World Wrestling Athletes Committee Chair Arsen Julfalakyan.

“What was done to Gagik Tsarukyan today is an atrocity,” Julfalakyan declared. He criticised the deployment of dozens of security personnel to apprehend a 70-year-old man who was alone and offering no resistance in his home, describing it as “the pinnacle of baseness” and an attempt by “weak, immoral individuals to mask their own insignificance with a show of force.”

However, most of the active athletes prefer to keep silence, distancing themselves from the political topics. Tsarukyan’s arrest is mainly described as a political move from the reigning government. During the recent parliamentary election campaign, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan explicitly threatened to arrest major opposition figures and systematically deprive them of their commercial assets.

This government pressure has intersected directly with sports administration. The state’s Investigative Committee recently sealed both the ARMNOC headquarters and the elite Olympavan sports complex. The closure occurred whilst prominent international athletes, including the United States national wrestling team and a former UFC champion, were actively using the high-performance training facilities.

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