Football fan banned from matches

A 21-year-old football fan was banned on Tuesday from matches of the club he supports, after he was arrested Monday night for allegedly punching a police officer.

The 21-year-old was arrested at the Makarios Stadium in Nicosia during the Doxa – APOEL match after he pushed a police officer in his attempt to escape when he was asked to follow him. The police officer had asked him to follow him after he spotted him throwing a bag, which was believed to contain flare guns, off a wall, near the east stands.

After he was informed that he was under arrest, he attacked the police officer and punched him in the face.

He was taken to court, where he was banned from stadiums during the dates and times his team plays matches, until his pending trial is completed.

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.