Fan cards to be issued in October

THE controversial fan identity card will be out by October, Justice minister Ionas Nicolaou said on Thursday, as eight companies have expressed interest in the project.

“There was a need to extend, for at least one month, the call for tenders to get a strategic investor who will install the printing and identification system,” he told the Cyprus News Agency.

The process is expected to be completed by September.

The idea of an identity card for sports fans, voted in last year as part of an anti-hooligan bill, is opposed by the organised supporters of all major football clubs.

The task of issuing the card was given to the Cyprus sports organisation, which in turn asked the Cyprus football association (CFA) to take it over because it lacked the funds.

However, that decision was rescinded following strong protests by opposition parties, mainly AKEL, which cited privacy concerns.

AKEL had expressed concerns that the personal data sports fans had to submit to get a card would be used by police to keep tabs on them.

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.