APOEL AND OMONIA have both been hit with mammoth fines by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA).
The CFA handed out fines to the clubs totalling €35,500 due to trouble caused by their respective fans in their most recent clash on October 3 at the GSP stadium.
APOEL were fined €5,000 for the entry of a fan into the football pitch, and €6,000 for fans abusive chants against the President Demetris Christofias.
Omonia’s fines were more severe, the club were fined €3,000 for the throwing of objects onto the field by fans, €1,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct by the team and €2,500 for allowing fans to bring dangerous objects into the stadium. An additional €8,000 fine was given to Omonia as their fans caused the game to be temporarily stopped and finally a whopping €10,000 fine was given because an Omonia fan burned a national symbol of the country in the stadium, specifically the Greek national flag.
Large fines like the above have become a common phenomenon in the Cypriot game, and one must wonder how much longer the clubs will be able to support the actions of a small minority of their fans.
So far this season the CFA has handed out fines totalling €194,840 to clubs and players. What makes that figure even more incredible is that the season is only five games old.
Typically most of the fines are related to crowd trouble, but by far the biggest fine handed out so far has been to AEL Limassol which was fined €55,000 after their recent incident with LTV. AEL had refused to allow LTV staff into the stadium to transmit the game due to a contract dispute and instead showed the game live on another channel TV Plus without the approval of the CFA.
A CFA source said that if the fines were not paid within a specific time frame further sanctions would be imposed on clubs, which could include additional fines or even point deductions.
Anorthosis which have been fined in excess of €6,500 this season have taken a unique pre-emptive measure to insure the team avoid future fines.
Anorthosis president Kyriacos Kousios announced that effective immediately any fan wishing to sit in the Northern Stand (usually where the organised and more die-hard fans sit) will only be able to purchase tickets from the official offices of Anorthosis. After purchasing the ticket the fan will have to present his national identity card and have his picture taken. Furthermore tickets for all away games will once again only be available for purchase at the club house.
Kousios said that this action was being implemented due to “the intolerable, unacceptable and unreasonable behaviour shown by a small portion of our fans who continually commit unlawful actions at our games”
Only time will tell if this measure will work however the club has already found opposition to the scheme from its own supporters. Organised supporters group PAN.SY.FI. Anorthosis released a statement slamming the move stating “We believe that photography is a measure of discrimination against a portion of our fans. It is illegal and we will refuse to comply with it.”
