Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been been defended by the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) president after being left off a shortlist of the nation's top sporting stars of 2016.
Despite winning Armenia's footballer of the year prize for the seventh time, Mkhitaryan was excluded from a list of 10 sports stars drawn up by the Federation of Sports Journalists of Armenia.
Federation president Ruben Hayrapetyan said in a statement: "We can't deny Mkhitaryan's contribution and achievements in this sport, and everyone knows about it, even those who tried to compose tales about how they chose the top athletes of the year.