Sport Rugby union President Yuri Beglaryan11 | Founded 2000 | |
Rugby Europe affiliation 2002
Associate Member
(suspended in 2014) Men's coach Laurent Hairabetian (player-coach) Website www.armrugby.am (archived) | ||
The Rugby Federation of Armenia (Armenian: Հայաստան Ռեգբիի ֆեդերացիա, Hajastani Regbii Federatsia; Russian: Федерация регби Армении, Federatsiya Regbi Armenii) is the governing body for rugby union in Armenia.
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It was founded in 2000 and joined FIRA-AER (now Rugby Europe) as an associate member in 2002. Rugby Europe suspended the Rugby Federation of Armenia in November 2014 due to inactivity.
History
Rugby was first played in the country in the 1960s, when Armenia was a republic within the Soviet Union. Armenia had its own representative team within the USSR, although it was not considered to be a proper national side. Armenian clubs including Yerevan Dinamo RC and Yerevan Spartak RC played in the top division of Soviet Championship and Soviet Cup. The rugby teams were disbanded due to the effects of the Armenia-Azerbaijan War and economic difficulties in Armenia during first years of independence in the early 1990s.
Rugby in Armenia went into hibernation for almost a decade until the founding of the Rugby Federation of Armenia (RFA) in 2000. Gagik Panikian become the RFA president in 2002 and the RFA joined FIRA-AER (now Rugby Europe) later that year. National teams for sevens and fifteen-a-side were soon formed to play in European competitions.
As of 2012, there were three rugby clubs in Armenia: Ararat, Artashat, and Ureni. Rugby Europe suspended the Rugby Federation of Armenia due to inactivity in 2014.