POLICE are planning extensive measures to stop hooliganism ahead of tonight’s big match between Anorthosis Famagusta and APOEL.
Taking place at Larnaca’s Antonis Papadopoulos stadium and kicking off at 7pm, the hotly contested game could lead to APOEL taking the Cypriot championship.
The gates to the stadium will be opened to the public from 4.30pm in order to provide ample time for supporters to make their way to the stands in a steady and incident-free manner.
The two teams’ supporters clubs have been working together to ensure minimal likelihood for supporters finding themselves in any kind of position that could provoke a confrontation, with specific areas both inside and outside the stadium being allocated to each one.
The visiting supporters of APOEL have been allotted 2,500 tickets exclusively for the southern stand, while the home supporters of Anorthosis will be seated on the northern, western and eastern stands of the stadium.
A segment of seats that are located between the western and southern stands will be left empty, creating a type of ‘buffer zone’ between the opposing sides’ fans.
Additionally, police have released specific instructions to both clubs to be disseminated to their respective supporters. APOEL fans have been instructed to use Papanicolis Avenue for both their approach and departure from the stadium, while supporters of Anorthosis using the northern and western stands have been called to use Lisou Santama Avenue and the roads leading from Kokkines and ‘Aktipitos’.
Home fans who will be occupying the eastern stand should travel to and from the stadium using the side roads of the Ayios Anargiron refugee estate. Papanicolis Avenue will be closed at the point where it joins Lisou Santama up to its intersection with Ayias Theklas street, from 4.30pm up until the last remnants of the visiting supporters have passed through it following the end of the match. To avoid any possibility of vandalism, the stadium’s parking lot will not be open to private vehicles.
Despite a relatively peaceful record of previous meetings that the two teams have traditionally enjoyed, police are taking no chances in ensuring a peaceful match. Authorities have stressed that a zero-tolerance policy will be in effect towards any attempts to smuggle flares, firecrackers and other dangerous items into the stadium, while displays of a political, chauvinistic or indecent nature are also forbidden.
The hard line adopted by the police follows an especially turbulent year in the world of Cypriot football, with clashes between fans increasingly assuming both political and territorial overtones. However, the police do also stress that their strong presence at the match is to ensure that the vast majority of fans who are peaceful and there to enjoy the game are not affected by the minority of hooligans that have been observed to instigate trouble in the past.
Evidence of the police’s heightened sensitivity at sporting events taking place close to the end of the season could also be seen from their unsparing approach to a volleyball game held last night between Anorthosis and Omonoia.
The match, held at Larnaca’s Kition stadium, witnessed similar measures being employed in order to minimise the two groups of fans’ coming into contact with each other.
