POLICE OFFICERS are considering refusing to monitor high risk football matches, it emerged yesterday as recriminations flew thick and fast in the wake of Sunday’s sports violence in Limassol.
Disturbances before and after the Limassol derby between AEL and Apollon resulted in three injuries – two policemen and one fan. The scenes outside the Tsirio stadium resembled a battle ground as groups of supporters directed their rage against security forces, pelting police with rocks and metal screws and firing flare guns and makeshift pipebombs which they had managed to smuggle into the ground.
Spokesman for the Cyprus Police Association, Andreas Symeou, was hit just under the eye by a missile hurled from a slingshot and later had to receive stitches. A second police officer was injured slightly in the hand from a firecracker, while a 20-year-old Apollon supporter – not involved in the disturbances – was hit by a flare fired from a flare gun.
Before kickoff, a large group of fans had reportedly swarmed police at one of the gates, refusing to submit to body checks and forcing their way inside. Trouble resumed after the game, which Apollon lost 3-2.
Symeou, who on Sunday was part of a crowd-control unit at the stadium, yesterday suggested that police were incapable of enforcing law and order at football matches. Likening the disturbances to “warfare,” he said the money officers receive for putting their lives at risk was not worth it.
Following an emergency meeting called by the police chief to discuss Sunday’s events, the force’s spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said not providing security at sports venues was not an option, since the police had a legal obligation to do so.
The fact that children as young as seven were seen throwing stones was a further sign that hooliganism was getting out of control, Katsounotos said, adding that the police chief has instructed the force to look at ways of tightening security measures.
It was “out of sheer luck” that no one was killed in the incidents, he said.
Justice Minister Loucas Louca outright accused the Cyprus Football Association (KOP) for acting irresponsibly and held the association partly responsible for the latest bout of violence.
The football match at Tsirio was supposed to have been held behind closed doors after KOP handed hosts AEL a home ban. Days before the game, KOP – probably under pressure from the clubs – reversed its decision, knowing it was a high-risk fixture with a history of bad blood between the two sets of fans.
Last year, Louca said, KOP had passed a decision prohibiting fans of certain clubs (such as Apoel and Apollon) from attending games designated as high-risk. He went on to wonder why the association had apparently cancelled that decision.
“In this way, the message we are sending these miscreants is: ‘Do whatever you want and your team will suffer no consequences, it just gets fined €35,000’.”
Asked by newsmen whether KOP itself should be subject to scrutiny and possible sanctions for decisions gone wrong, Louca said it was not possible for the government to exercise such control as this is prohibited under UEFA regulations.
In response to another question, as to whether he was satisfied with KOP’s part in the effort to crack down on hooliganism, he said:
“No. It’s about time that all the parties concerned must assume their responsibilities.”
On the issue of potentially incendiary remarks made by club officials before or after a match, the minister lamented the lack of liability under Cypriot law.
“In other countries, when a club official makes such comments, they are banned from the ground and may even face jail time. In Cyprus, there are no repercussions.”
One proposal the police insists on is that games take place during daylight as that makes it easier to monitor and control crowds, he said.
Asked what additional measures the police force would take, Louca responded that these would be announced when finalised.
Through its spokesman, the government said it “strongly condemned” the incidents which it described as “unacceptable.”
