 The vice-president of the Armenian Chess Federation Smbat Lputian responded that Armenia was still discussing the matter and had not decided on the matter yet.In July 2016, Lputian announced that (based upon discussion within the federation) the Armenian chess team would not participate in the Chess Olympiad.One week before the Olympiad started, the Pakistani Sports Board, dealing with three separate claimants to status of official national federation, refused to issue "No Objection Certificates" (NOCs).