Armen Nazaryan’s sons cleared to represent Bulgaria again

Two-time Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling champion Armen Nazaryan has held a meeting with the leadership of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation, resulting in the licensing issue involving his sons, Edmond and Grisha Nazaryan, being resolved. Both wrestlers will now once again be able to represent Bulgaria in international competitions.

The brothers have not competed for the Bulgarian national team for the past two years. Edmond and Grisha have been training exclusively under their father and have not attended national team training camps, which became one of the reasons for disagreements between the athletes and the federation.

The meeting with Armen Nazaryan was attended by Bulgarian Wrestling Federation president Stanka Zlateva, vice presidents Borislav Velichkov and Kiril Vatev, as well as the newly appointed head coach of Bulgaria’s Greco-Roman wrestling team, Andrey Dimitrov.

Following the talks, the federation’s leadership resolved the issue concerning the Nazaryan brothers’ licenses.

“The two athletes have already been issued the relevant licenses, allowing them to represent Bulgaria on the international wrestling mat in accordance with the federation’s rules and regulations and in the interests of the development of the sport and Bulgarian wrestling,” the federation said in a statement.

In addition, at Andrey Dimitrov’s request, the federation will send Edmond and Grisha Nazaryan a new invitation to join the national team’s training camps. The Bulgarian Wrestling Federation noted that this will be the ninth invitation sent to CSKA Wrestling Club athletes over the past eight months.

For his part, Armen Nazaryan agreed to take part, together with coach Emil Ivanov, in discussions regarding the preparation plans for the national team wrestlers.

“We should not argue; we should unite. We need dialogue. Send the invitations, and we will join the discussions on the national athletes’ preparation plan,” Nazaryan said.

The brothers have previously stressed that their only goal is to continue representing Bulgaria and achieve success on the international stage.

“Our job is to train and compete. We are Bulgarian champions. What else is there to talk about? We are Bulgarian champions,” Edmond Nazaryan said.

Edmond Nazaryan is a two-time European champion, having won the continental title in 2020 and 2023. He also claimed a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships in Belgrade.

The Bulgarian Wrestling Federation described the agreements reached at the meeting as an important step toward restoring dialogue between the federation, national team coaches, clubs and athletes.