POLICE will have to step up and do a better job policing football matches, Justice Minister Loucas Louca yesterday after nine people were injured after Wednesday’s match between Apollon and AEL.
Louca noted that, whilst policing at football matches had by now become routine, the police presence at the match was not as comprehensive as it could have been “And maybe there were some oversights in the policing”. Louca added: “We shall examine the matter, I have asked to be kept updated on the topic, we discussed it with the Chief of police and certainly in future policing operations a better job must be done”.
Stone-throwing fans of the opposing teams clashed briefly before the start of the match, but dispersed quickly when the police intervened. The actual match itself was relatively quiet with the only incident being a brief pause of play whilst a burning plastic emergency exit to the stalls, which had been set on fire by fans, was extinguished.
With the end of the match, however, approximately 300 Apollon fans invaded the pitch to celebrate their team’s qualification for the finals. They also chanted slogans at the fans of the losing team who then proceeded to throw stones at them. A number of AEL fans then also invaded the pitch to engage the Apollon fans already there.
“With the dynamic and forceful intervention of the police, the AEL fans as much as the Apollon fans were driven back into the stalls,” said Yiannis Georgiou, spokesperson for Limassol police. From the stone throwing three police vehicles were damaged during the clashes.
During the departure of the fans from the stadium, a group of AEL fans proceeded to throw stones and Molotov cocktails at police, who responded with tear gas to disperse them. During the clashes three civilians and three police officers were injured and fires broke out on waste ground of dry, wild vegetation and rubbish. Those injured were transferred to Limassol General Hospital where they received first aid and were then released, saving one of the civilians who was kept in for further medical attention.
A further three injuries occurred as a result of two separate incidents later on in the evening. Stones were thrown against cars driving on Makarios Avenue, near the Ayios Nicolaos roundabout where the AEL fans’ association is located, resulting in a 16-year-old female sustaining a head injury requiring hospital treatment. She was kept in for nursing and her condition was described as “good enough”.
The other two injuries occurred when a team of some 70 to 100 fans began to attack a coffee shop. They attacked the owner before proceeding to the interior of the establishment where they also attacked a patron who was wearing a scarf of the opposing team. Both the patron and the owner were taken to Limassol general hospital where they received first aid and were then released.
