The President of the Ski Federation of Armenia, Gagik Sargsyan, has addressed the incident involving Mikael Mikaelyan and the reaction of the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia, Zhanna Andreasyan.
A few days ago, during the Tour de Ski, the International Ski Federation fined skier Mikael Mikaelyan after he covered the tournament sponsor’s “Azerbaijan” inscription on his competition clothing with adhesive tape during his performance.
“All athletes of the Armenian Ski Federation wear tracksuits with the word ‘Hayastan’ written in larger Armenian letters and ‘Armenia’ written in smaller English letters. We are the first national federation to feature Armenian lettering on our competition clothing.
Why did the misunderstanding arise? In all forms of skiing, athletes wear competition numbers on their uniforms, which also display the sponsor’s name. Mikael did not wear a tracksuit with the word ‘Azerbaijan’ written on it; the elastic T-shirt attached to his tracksuit carried the sponsor’s name.
An interesting fact – whether coincidental or a result of taking this incident into account – is that the number Mikael received the following day bore the name of a different sponsor.
Many people ask: if our athletes continue to cover the inscription ‘Azerbaijan,’ what will the Armenian Federation do? Our Federation is not alone; the athlete has received and will continue to receive support from Armenians all over the world. I do not think that, in practice, we will face any serious or visible problems.
In the event of penalties, we will gladly pay the fines. And if, theoretically, they attempt to disqualify Mikael or any other athlete, there is a legal solution: we will appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport or the European Court of Human Rights and challenge the decision.
Two days ago, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia, Zhanna Andreasyan, touched upon this topic during a press conference. She noted that they had sent us an inquiry and that, after receiving our response, they would express their position. On the same day, we received an inquiry from the deputy minister coordinating sports (Hasmik Avagyan, ed.), to which we responded immediately. Since the issue has become a matter of nationwide discussion, I promise to publish the ministry’s inquiry and our response tomorrow.
The minister’s response was very interesting. I did not watch the entire press conference, but the part dedicated to this topic was the following: ‘Sports should be about sports.’
Ms. Minister is absolutely right: sports should be about sports. That is what most of our lives are devoted to. Ms. Minister, we essentially live by the idea that sports should be about sports – sports education, sports science, activity, and professionalism. Sports should be about sports.
I would very much like the sports system in Armenia not to remain semi-Soviet, but to become modern and technological, in line with the 21st century. I have said many times that I am ready, on a voluntary basis, to help you transform sports into a technological system suited to the realities of the 21st century.
Dear Ms Minister, with great respect for your person, over the years we have written numerous letters raising various issues, particularly regarding the preparation program for the 2026 Olympic Games. Nothing has changed absolutely – zero results. Yes, sports should be about sports, Ms. Minister.
The head coach of the Armenian ski team is truly delivering historic results. Meanwhile, the deputy minister coordinating sports, when asked what historic results have been achieved ahead of 2026, mentioned para-skier Garik Melkonyan, who won a bronze medal at the World Student Games.
This result was achieved thanks to the head coach of the team and father of Mikael Mikaelyan, Artur Mikaelyan, and his wife, Alla Mikaelyan. This is the same coach who sent you numerous letters seeking a meeting to discuss the problems facing skiing. He wanted to present our vision for reforming winter sports, but those letters remained unanswered.
Ms Minister, sports should be about sports.
You are aware of the problems, because we have written to you about them many times. Over the past few years, we have had only a brief meeting with you. We discussed a painful issue that could be resolved very easily. For several years, winter sports teams did not receive sportswear from the state to participate in competitions. Finally, in 2025, they received summer sportswear for the World Cup. If I am not mistaken, the government decision states: ‘To properly represent the Republic of Armenia.’
If proper representation is to be achieved in summer sportswear, then, naturally, sports should be about sports.”
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