Hooligan battle won, but the war continues

POLICEMEN on duty refused to be intimidated on Sunday afternoon when faced with a group of some 500 football supporters who tried to push their way through police lines outside the Antonis Papadopoulos football ground. The supporters had no tickets and when police prevented them from heading to the stadium entrance the crowd started throwing stones and setting fire to refuse bins and car-tyres.

Police in riot gear used tear-gas to disperse the angry crowd of youths aged between 17 and 27 and arrested 32 of the troublemakers, all of whom were held overnight. It was the biggest number of arrests ever, at a football match, indicating that the police command has, at last, decided to get tough with the hooligans. There had been considerable pressure on the police to adopt a get-tough policy at football matches as the violence had become a worryingly regular phenomenon.

Two weeks ago in Limassol, police were unable to stop of mob of 500 youths, who refused to undergo body-searches, storming through their lines. It was evident that the hooligans were not afraid of the police and had no qualms about attacking them. They were encouraged to show contempt for the officers by the softly approach adopted at matches.

The situation was made even worse by the head of the police association (SAK) who publicly admitted that his members were considering refusing policing matches because their safety was at risk. This admission of defeat by the police led to the unprecedented violence in Limassol, two weeks ago, with the hooligans charging at the ill-prepared officers who tried to enforce the law.

But on Sunday the police were prepared. They went to Larnaca in full riot gear and did not hesitate to use tear-gas when the crowd ignored police orders. Residents of the neighbourhood may have complained about the use of tear-gas and the match kick-off was delayed, but the young troublemakers needed to be given a lesson and to be shown that they could not do as they please.

The police took control again on Sunday but this is not the end. Hooligans will try to test the police resolve again before the end of the football season, which is why the force must not abandon the new, get-tough policy. This must be evident at all high-risk matches, because the troublemakers will not give up.

A battle was won on Sunday, but many more need to be won before the war on hooligans is finally won.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.