New committee to regulate high risk sports games

A COMMITTEE aimed at reviewing security before major sports games is to be set up before the start of the next season in Cyprus.

Officials of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA), Cyprus Sports Organisation (CSO) and the police met at the Justice Ministry on Thursday for a meeting with Justice Minister Sophocles Sophocleous.

Police and officials of the CFA have been at loggerheads for years over security matters at high risk football matches.
Violence between fans is commonplace at football matches in Cyprus, both inside and outside sports stadiums.

Police have twice threatened to stop offering assistance at sports games, claiming sports officials do not do their fair share to maintain security.

Yesterday, however, a decision was reached to regulate policing and other security issues ahead of high risk games with a three-member committee to be made up of representatives from the CFA, the CSO and the police.
Speaking to reporters, CFA Chairman Costakis Koutsokoumnis said he was delighted with the decision.

“It is good to know that an official body can make decisions of security ahead of games,” said Koutsokoumnis. “The committee will overlook matters where extra policing or separation of supporters may be necessary. The committee will also have the power to decide which games should be played behind closed doors.”

He added that high risk encounters such as games between APOEL and Omonia, where more than 20,000 supporters attend, may need the supervision of more than just the committee in its decision making.

Repeated promises from the CFA and the police to stamp out sports-related violence have failed to stem the flow of violence at sports events across the island.

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.