Omonia goalkeeper targeted by bomb

THE GOALKEEPER of Nicosia football club Omonia was the victim of a bomb attack in the early hours of yesterday morning.

A blast targeted the car used by first choice goalkeeper Demetris Leoni, who signed last season from AEL Limassol.

The car, which Leoni used but was in his mother’s name, blew up at around 3.45am yesterday, damaging the car beyond repair while also shattering the windows of nearby houses. Police officials said the culprits had planted a highly explosive makeshift bomb in the bonnet of the car, which was parked in his mother’s driveway in Episkopi in Limassol, and timed it to detonate when it did.

The 28-year-old keeper told police he had no quarrels with anyone and was stunned to find out what had happened. However, reports suggest that Leoni had in fact been complaining of death threats that he had been receiving by phone and had told close friends he believed them to be from fanatical football supporters.

It is the first time that a footballer in Cyprus has been the victim of such an attack.
Police spokesman Demetris Demetriou told the Cyprus Mail that Leoni had told the police he did not suspect anyone, adding he was not aware that Leoni had been receiving death threats.

“As far as I know, the investigations into the bomb attack are continuing.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.