Nikita Simonyan - Politician Career

Politician Career

Simonyan later worked in senior positions at the Football Federation of the Soviet Union, Sports Committee of the USSR and the Russian Football Union.

On November 24, 2009, Simonyan was appointed acting president of the Russian Football Union following the resignation of Vitaly Mutko. Simonyan was in office until February 3, 2010. At a special conference of the Russian Football Union, Sergei Fursenko was chosen as the new president on February 3.

Simonyan was in attendance for the UEFA Euro 2012 match between Russia and Armenia in Yerevan, which ended in a draw. On March 25, 2011, the day before the match, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan awarded Nikita Simonyan with the "Medal of Honor." At the award ceremony, Simonyan said:

I am honored to receive this esteemed award. You know, I'm one hundred percent Armenian. My parents, being Armenians Ardvina, once escaped from the genocide. My father was a great patriot. For me it was a great honor to lead the national team in 1973, "Ararat." And what did these guys win the title and the cup for me, as a coach, was a holiday. You can not pass, as it responded to the people. Indeed, it was a great team. So I'm a generation, and of course, all our people just grateful and worship.

After Sergei Fursenko resigned on June 25, 2012, Simonyan was appointed acting president of the Russian Football Union for a second time. Simonyan left office on September 3, 2012, when Nikolai Tolstoy was elected president of the Russian Football Union.

Simonyan, along with fellow Spartak veteran Alexander Mirzoyan, has personally sent well wishes to Yura Movsisyan in connection with his becoming a Spartak player. Simonyan wrote to Movsisyan, “Dear Yura, I hope that you win more titles at Spartak than I. I wish you success!” Movsisyan replied: “It will be difficult to exceed Simonyan’s achievements— as a player and a coach. Thanks very much for such valuable gift. I know of Simonyan and Mirzoyan as the greatest players, and I am proud to be an Armenian just like them. I have not seen them play, but I know that they have done a lot for Spartak. I am not even close to them . I certainly do have plans. I want to score goals and achieve wins. when something goes successfully, I will enter into history at that time.”

On 19 February 2013, Simonyan attended the grand opening of the new Spartak arena. He reminisced that if he were 20 years younger, he'd be happy to still play for the club.