The chief of Armenia’s most powerful security service has been chosen to also manage the national Football Federation (FFA) that has long been headed by a controversial businessman.

Members of the FFA unanimously appointed Artur Vanetsian, the director of the National Security Service (NSS), as its new chairman at a conference held over the weekend. The appointment has been widely anticipated since July.

The FFA has been run by Ruben Hayrapetian, a wealthy businessman linked to Armenia’s former government, for the last 16 years. The 55-year-old better known as “Nemets Rubo” has for years been dogged by controversy stemming from his reportedly violent conduct.

In recent years, Hayrapetian has faced growing calls to resign from angry fans holding him responsible for the poor performance of the national football team. The pressure on him grew further following mass protests that led to the resignation of Armenia’s longtime leader, Serzh Sarkisian, in April.

Hayrapetian continued to refuse to quit until it emerged in July that Vanetsian is eyeing the post of FFA chairman. The tycoon said does not mind being replaced by the latter.

Hayrapetian was conspicuously absent from the FFA conference that also elected the federation’s new Executive Committee. The committee will now comprise several associates of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian such as Minister for Local Government Suren Papikian, Health Minister Arsen Torosian and parliament deputy Alen Simonian.

Speaking at the conference, Vanetsian promised major charges within Armenian football’s governing body. “We will turn the page of feud between the Football Federation and football clubs,” he said.

“In our country every community must have a football pitch available to everyone. The regions will be actively involved in football,” added the head of the former Armenian branch of the Soviet KGB.

Vanetsian’s first major task is to find a replacement for Vartan Minasian, the national team coach who unexpectedly stepped down one day before the FFA conference. Minasian’s resignation was swiftly accepted by the outgoing federation chairman.

Vanetsian said that the resignation took him by surprise. He said he is already looking for a new coach.

The 38-year-old took over the FFA following a political scandal caused by his leaked phone calls with the head of another law-enforcement agency, the Special Investigative Service (SIS). The two men discussed sensitive details of an SIS-led investigation into the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan. Vanetsian told the SIS’s Sasun Khachatrian that he ordered a judge to sanction former President Robert Kocharian’s controversial arrest in July.

An ad hoc commission of the Armenian parliament launched an inquiry into the wiretapping scandal last week.