The example of Greece is partially guiding the government’s approach to addressing incidents of violence in stadiums, with the focus shifting to the executive committee of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA), which convenes urgently today to take measures.
According to information from Phileleftheros, the government’s intention, especially after the recent incidents in Limassol, is for all remaining matches in the championship and the Cup to be held without spectators and not just with fans of the home team, as recently decided by the CFA.
However, the possibility remains open that if the clubs make decisions today that satisfy the direction of addressing violence, then the aforementioned measure may not be taken.
If, however, the measures taken by the CFA are not deemed satisfactory, the President of the Republic, who has taken charge of the whole issue in close cooperation with the Minister of Justice, may call a meeting with the presidents of the teams to explain the government’s decision for matches without fans.
According to the same information, today, Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis will hold the CFA accountable, as, according to the law, the federation bears a significant share of responsibility for the security of a match.
Moreover, as mentioned yesterday in the Council of Ministers, the Minister will inform the CFA that the government is not willing to send 300 police officers to every match, paying overtime, because the clubs do not take measures to control their fans.
Additionally, the Minister will warn of the closure of Fan Clubs.
After the briefing, Mr. Hartsiotis will leave, and the government, according to Deputy Government Spokesman Yiannis Antoniou, will await the decisions of the CFA and act accordingly.
The issue was discussed yesterday in the Council of Ministers, with Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis stating that “a very detailed exchange of views took place; we have been informed that an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of the CFA has been convened today, with the exclusive topic of discussion being violence in stadiums.”
Before the discussion of the CFA Executive Committee, the Representative stated, the Minister of Justice and Public Order will attend to present the views and concerns of the government.
“After being informed of the decisions of the Executive Committee, the Minister of Justice and Public Order, in coordination with the President of the Republic, will further examine possible specific measures that can be taken.”
Asked to comment on the statements of the Minister of Justice and whether their content constituted criticism of the Police, the Representative said:
“What can be inferred and what we must know is that there was a strong police presence yesterday. At the same time, we must understand that it is not possible for the Police to be present with a strong presence at all sports venues. Sports venues are not battlefields. Disturbances had started outside the sports venue, and it was one of the reasons why the responsible police officer at the sports venue informed the match referee, in consultation with the Minister of Justice, that, given those circumstances, there could not be sufficient policing of the area.”
Asked if there was a political decision not to start yesterday’s match and to what extent their content constituted criticism of the Police, the Representative said:
“The decision is made in accordance with the law. What happened yesterday evening, after the disturbances began, is that the President of the Republic was informed; he himself communicated with the Minister of Justice and Public Order, who duly communicated with the responsible police officer at the sports venue. He was informed by the responsible police officer at the sports venue that, as the circumstances were, as events were unfolding at that moment, there could not be sufficient policing of the area. The Minister of Justice and Public Order, then, in coordination with the President of the Republic, instructed the police officer to inform the match referee, and the match referee, just as the law provides, decided not to hold the match.”
According to information, the match referee was ready to start the match despite the disturbances, but the Police had expressed opposition.
As for the objects held by fans in the AEL stand, as seen from the stadium’s closed-circuit system just before the start of the match, it shows several fans bending down at a specific point in the middle of the stand and taking the dangerous objects.
It appears, from the Police’s estimates, that the objects were in a hiding place in some part of the stadium (on the ceiling or elsewhere, making it difficult to locate them).
