Busy Napa hotels building their own football pitches

Hotels in Ayia Napa are resorting to building their own football pitches after a record 200 teams are expected to visit the resort for training over the winter season.

Much is expected to depend on the stance taken by Russia towards Turkey following the assassination of their ambassador to Ankara as the majority of Ayia Napa’s football related tourists originate from Russia and Russian speaking states, as well as from Scandinavia and central Europe.

Indicative of the expected increase in football tourism is the fact that the luxury Anais hotel, with three pitches of its own, is expecting some 50 teams during the first few months of 2017, more than trebling the 15 sports related team bookings made earlier this year.

Work is already underway at the four-star Sun Gardens hotel to build three pitches, which are expected to be completed mid-January.

Improvements to the resort’s sports centre which includes some 15 pitches are being carried out, with the cost reportedly in the region of €200,000. The work being done includes refurbishing and improving the changing rooms, toilets and fencing of the facilities.

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