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