Backslapping all round after Sunday’s match goes without a hitch

A MASSIVE police operation, the cooperation of the football clubs and perhaps the 1-1 result all ensured that Sunday’s derby between Omonia and APOEL in Nicosia passed without incident.
Police deployed 330 officers inside and outside the GSP stadium. Two sections of the stands were left empty to keep the two sets of fans well apart.
Attendance stood at 16,500. The stadium’s capacity is around 20,000.
Protective nets were erected behind each goal –sections reserved for the die-hard fans – to prevent the hurling of objects at the goalkeepers.
The game kicked off at 2.30pm, in line with a longstanding police demand that matches billed as high-risk take place during the daytime.
Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said two persons were not allowed into the stadium. Both were included on a ban list. One of them was arrested on the spot for violating the ban despite being informed of it; the other was stopped from entering the ground but was not arrested as he was unaware of being included on the list. The second man was then led to his car and escorted home by police officers.
Both men were identified from their identity card numbers, which were written on the tickets.
The two were part of a list of nine known troublemakers, identified by police with help from the football clubs.
Sunday’s heightened security measures were taken in the wake of football violence between APOEL and Omonia supporters on 15 November, which left one youth in critical condition.
Authorities feared a resurgence of clashes between rival groups, said to have a running vendetta dating back several months.
Speaking after the match, Katsounotos said the clubs had done their part in ensuring their fans did not get out of control.
A day before the game, the presidents of the two clubs held a joint news conference in Nicosia denouncing violence and stressing that the two teams are rivals on the pitch but not enemies.
Omonia chairman Miltiades Neofytou even congratulated his APOEL counterpart Fivos Erotocritou for his club’s performances in the Champions League.
The two clubs also kept a promise to make no other statements to the media before or after the game, other than the obligatory post-match news conference attended by the managers and players.
The police spokesman said yesterday he had called both club presidents to congratulate them for their cooperation.
“This proves that whenever people are willing and determined, the outcome can only be a positive one,” Katsounotos said.
The spokesman also praised the two sets of fans for their “high sense of responsibility.”

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