ONE OF THE victims of the latest outbreak of hooligan violence was Andreas Symeou, the leader of the police union SAK. Symeou, who was in charge of an anti-riot group of officers, was hit by pellets, fired by a sling-shot – the latest weapon used by hooligans – just below the eye. He needed several stitches, but was lucky that the pellets did not hit him in the eye.
Another on-duty officer was hit on the hand by a flare fired from a special pistol, while a 20-year-old man was hit by a flare aimed, according to police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos, at another officer. The target of the Limassol hooligans was the police, something that was evident before the match had even started, when a mob of some 500 Apollonas fans charged through the police lines and entered the ground without being body-searched.
There were obviously not enough police officers on duty to hold the mob at bay. But how many policemen must be deployed every time there is a ‘high-risk’ football match? Must the taxpayer foot the bill for 500 or 1,000 men to police football matches? It would be much cheaper, for the taxpayer if the ‘high-risk’ matches were played behind closed doors, as the original decision for the Ael-Apollonas weekend clash in Limassol had been.
After pressure from the clubs, the decision was changed. The home club collected its ticket revenue while the taxpayer footed the police bill. But in such cases, surely the home club should pay for the extra (anything more than 15) officers needed to police a match? And if it refuses to do so, the match should be played behind closed doors. Only then would the clubs finally take responsibility for the behaviour of their fans, instead of always blaming the trouble on the inadequate police presence.
As for the police command, it should be very concerned that the fans showed no fear of the officers at Sunday’s match. Comments made by Symeou a couple of weeks ago, claiming that SAK members were considering not policing matches because of safety concerns was a big mistake. He may have modified his position after it was pointed out that this would be tantamount to mutiny, but his thoughtless comment was an admission that the police were afraid of the hooligans. Is it any wonder that on Sunday the hooligans charged through police lines?
A police force that is afraid to deal with troublemakers, as Symeou admitted, may as well be dissolved. The police chief understood this blunder, which is why yesterday he was quoted as saying that the force would continue policing football matches and there was no way it “would raise its arms in the face of these criminals”. The police union boss has already done this and the chief now needs to think of how law officers would be able to prove to hooligans that they are in charge.
