Referee arrested for match-fixing gets banned

The Cyprus Football Association (CFA) has decided to ban referee Andreas Constantinou from officiating any other game in Cyprus after he was arrested on February 11, along with Ayia Napa chairman and former referee Demetris Masias, on suspicion of rigging the game between Othellos and Ayia Napa that took place on February 8.

The CFA Executive Committee has also instructed its lawyers to look into Masias’ case and come up with adequate sanctions for him as well.

The committee, after getting all the information regarding the case from an internal report, decided to ask the CFA Referees’ Commissioner Bertrand Lajek to remove Constantnou from his position effective immediately.

The CFA has also urged people who are currently in possession of match-fixing proof to contact the authorities as soon as possible or call the dedicated line at 1460.

Earlier Thursday, Justice Minister Giorgos Savvides chaired a meeting regarding the latest developments regarding match-fixing claims with the CFA, representatives from the police, the footballers’ association (Pasp) and the referees’ association.

During the meeting it was decided that, after players from Othellos used the Red Button app promoted by Pasp to report their suspicions that their game against Ayia Napa had been rigged, coaches should have the same access to it.

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.