Former sports ethics committee member Charis Savvides on Tuesday was called to present evidence to back up allegations he made in Parliament regarding a scheme involving the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) and UEFA to cover up fixed games on the island.
Responding to a question by Phileleftheros after his one-hour testimony before the sports ethics committee, he stated that “there is evidence indicating that the CFA was lying when it claimed not to have received the red notices from UEFA.”
Savvides alleges that while he was still a member of the sports ethics committee, he was alerted by UEFA about red notices flagging 16 games in Cyprus as fixed.
However, the CFA has denied knowing about the red notices, despite Savvides claiming that they were forwarded to the association. He says that the CFA is trying to cover up match-fixing.
The notices involved 11 matches of Karmiotissa Polemidia FC and five matches of Ermis Aradippou that took place between January 2019 and the summer of 2020.
After Savvides’ allegations, the CFA issued a statement, asserting that it would provide evidence demonstrating that it was indeed unaware of the email regarding the 16 red notices.
The material delivered by Savvides to the sports ethics committee on Tuesday consisted of approximately 450 pages. In statements to journalists, he noted that he also submitted a memorandum concerning the “mismanagement of the red folders” by the CFA.
The vice president of the sports ethics committee, Efthymios Efthymiou, expressed satisfaction with Savvides’ testimony in statements to the media. He commented that the allegations are “very serious and need to be investigated thoroughly.”
He added that two investigators will be appointed for the case, but their names would not be announced until next Friday when the sports ethics committee will convene in an emergency special session.
Committee to investigate CFA president’s alleged conflict of interest
Efthymiou added that the committee will also examine allegations of conflict of interest regarding CFA president Giorgos Koumas.
According to Phileleftheros, Koumas owns at least four companies managing football broadcasting rights which he has sold to CytaVision for millions of euros while serving as CFA president.
Three of these companies are registered in Seychelles, while the fourth is registered in the British Virgin Islands.
New red notices
Furthermore, Efthymiou announced the names of the four officials who would investigate the suspicious betting activity in the matches between Olympiakos – Doxa, Olympiakos – Akritas, Enosis – Ael, and Omonia – Aek.
These matches took place in the past 15 days and were included in red notices that UEFA sent.
The investigators appointed are Harilaos Chrysanthou, Anna Sotiri, Nicolas Koursaris, and Elias Lambris.
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