IN A first for Cyprus’ ‘Wild West’ football, the government has employed name-and-shame tactics to keep hooligans out of stadiums.
The measures come in the wake of the latest bout of violence at two sports venues last weekend.
The Justice Ministry yesterday gave the police the OK to publish the names and identity card numbers of 13 troublemakers identified through CCTV footage.
In addition, police released the photos of five more wanted persons whom they have not identified so far.
And in a bid to show authorities mean business, Justice Minister Kypros Chrysostomides said that anyone not complying with the ban would be charged with misdemeanour and would be liable to a prison term of up to two years and/or a fine of €4,000.
Moreover, police have been given the power to determine whether a high-risk game should be cancelled.
Chrysostomides said he did not question the view of the Football Association, which in a statement said that it alone had the authority to decide whether matches are held and what fines to impose.
However, he added, security was a matter which concerned “the whole of society”.
The minister went on to suggest that the government wouldn’t have stepped in if the FA and football clubs had done their bit.
He said that when police tried to track down troublemakers caught on camera, they got little to no help from the FA, the teams or fan-clubs.
“I would like a climate of cooperation to prevail among all the involved parties, so that we can avoid the unacceptable phenomenon of violence at sports venues,” noted Chrysostomides.
According to the minister, the FA itself has said that the violence is caused by a “small band of fans”. If this were the case, then the football community should have isolated these individuals long ago, said Chrysostomides.
The minister said also he was “disappointed” by the attitude of the AEL fan club, which seemed to have “declared war on the police and MMAD [the riot squad]”.
The fans of the team in question claim they have been singled out.
“We have met with the various AEL fan clubs, and I must say that until recently the fans have displayed exemplary behaviour during the course of nine matches. I had hoped that this stance of theirs would continue. Unfortunately, it seems this truce has been short-lived,” said Chrysostomides.
Earlier this week, Chrysostomides warned that matches would be held in empty stadiums to prevent further incidents of hooliganism.
The warning came after violence erupted in two games last Saturday – the AEK v AEL football match and the APOEL v AEL basketball match.
The football game in Larnaca was stopped after AEL fans, enraged by AEK scoring a second goal, started hurling objects in the stadium, caused damage to property, burned down the stadium’s physiotherapy room and assaulted a number of police officers.
