New measures to curb sport violence

IN THE wake of violence during last week’s football matches, the government is considering cutting down on subsidies offered to sport associations whose members are linked to hooliganism.

But the Cyprus Sports Organisation (CSO), the state body responsible for allocating funds, strongly opposed the plan, whaich was tabled yesterday at the House Finance Committee meeting.

“Reducing subsidies is a strong deterrent to hooligans. I think it will pay off,” Committee Chairman Marcos Kyprianou said yesterday.

The CSO’s general manager Costas Papacostas complained “cutting down on subsidies would have a direct impact on the training of young athletes. It would be unfair to minors who are in no way connected to the violence.”

Papacostas cited the rising figures for participation in sports and stressed the need to maintain funding levels. There are currently 72,000 athletes and members of sport associations while there were only 12.000 in 1985.

“Academies’ programmes are administered by us. When we allocate an amount of money to an association we keep a close eye on them to make sure the money is used for the right purposes,” Papacostas said, adding that academies programmes are based “on fair training.”

The state budget for sports’ associations is around £60 million a year.

The CSO is said to have asked associations to employ security people to keep hooligans away from games but it was reported that associations have refused to do so.

Violent incidents were reported in the Omonia – Anorthosis football match on Saturday and in APOEL -Enosis Paralimniou match last Wednesday.

 

 

 

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.