IT COULD be an opportunity to show how relations between Turkey and Cyprus have improved or it could prove to be a national catastrophe. And no, we are not talking about politicians sitting around a table, but about 22,000 fans filling up a stadium to watch a football match.
Cypriot champions Anorthosis Famagusta FC will take on Turkey’s Trabzonspor in the first ever such encounter, under the watchful eyes of police officers and UEFA officials.
When Constantinos Samaras’ goal on 71 minutes saw off Belarus side FC Dinamo Minsk on Wednesday night, all eyes in Europe turned on next week’s encounter. Within 20 hours, top security and club officials were meeting in Cyprus to arrange and prepare, ahead of a game that could turn into a national disaster if security measures collapse.
Already, top police and security officials are making stern preparations to avoid any possible complications.
Anorthosis chairman Andreas Pantelis, who held a meeting along with stadium and police officials, was well aware of the risk and said everyone was getting involved ahead of the lucrative clash between the two sides.
“This is a historic game not only for Anorthosis but for Cypriot football and Cyprus in general. During the meeting, we just had all the different sectors involved because for the everything to go smoothly the full co-operation will be needed by Anorthosis, the Cyprus Football Association, the stadium and the police, so we can prove that we can host games with no problems or incidents.”
He added: “Looking at the circumstances of the game, it has been labeled a ‘high-risk match’, but we are looking at this encounter as a football match and we aim to represent our island in the best possible way.
“The fans will need to know where to go and how to behave, but all those details will be revealed at a later date. Obviously, the club has some responsibilities for this game as do others, but no one should worry, because I am certain everything will go smoothly. Cyprus will do what is needed so no problems arise.”
Even European football’s governing body UEFA is not taking any chances and sending over a security expert to ensure things stay cool. The expert was reportedly the same official who supervised security measures during Israeli side Maccabi Haifa’s games at the GSP a few years back. The Israeli club had been forced to play their games in Cyprus after Israel was deemed by UEFA as too dangerous to host home games.
Cyprus Football Association representative George Fantaros said: “UEFA has labelled this game as a ‘high risk game’ that is why Mr McDougal, who is a high ranking UEFA official in matters of security, will visit the island on Sunday afternoon and have meetings with various club and police officials on Monday morning. The purpose of his visit is to assure that security issues go smoothly in the game.”
The Manager of the GSP Stadium, Fivos Constantinides, said that new and more intense measures would be undertaken to ensure the safety of everybody, adding that he was sure things would go smoothly.
“Just so people can get an idea of what kind of measures we will be taking, they will be similar to the security measures during Macabbi Haifa’s Champions League games a few years ago. Measures such as people having to come early to the games and perhaps tickets will need to be purchased beforehand so there will be chance of delays.
“I am confident that things will go smoothly, provided that people behave themselves and listen to instructions, either from police officials or stadium stewards. The security presence will be intense and strict because of the many factors surrounding this game. Provocative flags or banners are banned from all games, never mind this game coming up.”
It will be the first time that a Cypriot side will meet a Turkish side in any European football competition. In 1986, APOEL Nicosia were drawn against Besiktas of Istanbul but refused to travel to Turkey requesting UEFA to move both games to neutral grounds. UEFA expelled APOEL from Europe for two years and the match was never played.
But this time around, a Turkish team will be playing against a refugee side, with Anorthosis originally from the Turkish occupied town of Famagusta. The club’s home stadium, the GSE, is in the north and the club was forced to build another stadium in Larnaca after 1974, the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium.
Chairman Pantelis has mixed feelings about the game but also by the fact that they were not allowed to use their stadium because it did not meet UEFA criteria.
“The fact that a Cypriot side will travel to Turkey for a football match is truly something historic and unique. It’s difficult to describe exactly how I feel about this trip because of the many problems between the two nations. On the other hand, this is a football game and we are obliged under the umbrella of fair play to look at this encounter as a football game.
“The Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium is certainly a more intimidating stadium than the GSP, and it is after all our own stadium. But the GSP Stadium is also a great stadium that can hold many people so we will still feel at home in the first leg.”
Turkish Cypriots calling for tickets
NO SOONER had the referee blow the final whistle on Wednesday night than thousands of Turkish Cypriots began requesting tickets for the game set to take place next Tuesday. Reports state that already 1,500 Turkish Cypriots have requested tickets for the game. GSP Stadium Manager Fivos Constantinides insists this should not be a problem.
“According to the police, the Turkish Cypriots will be allowed to sit whereever they want. I believe that the security checks going into the stadium will be strict and there will be stewards on hand everywhere to ensure that no incidents occur. All people will be checked by security officials and of course they will know roughly where the Turkish Cypriots will be.
“We have not yet had any word that Turkish fans, from Turkey, will be coming to the stadium but in accordance with UEFA regulations, the visiting team is allowed around 1,200 tickets. Exactly how many tickets will be needed by Trabzonspor is anybody’s guess because they have not requested tickets yet.”
Mustafa Ozsoy, chairman of the Turkish Cypriot union of sports journalists, says Trabzonspor have a huge following in the north and that many people could cross to swell up the travelling Turkish fans.
“There are over 2,000 Turkish Cypriots supporting Trabzonspor and they will obviously be going to support them, so preferably they should sit with the visiting supporters. However I don’t believe it will be a big problem for them to sit with the Greek Cypriots.”
Additional reporting by Simon Bahceli
