AN OMONIA FC fan burnt the Greek flag on Sunday during the Nicosia football derby with archrivals APOEL, seemingly worsening the overly hostile climate between the supporters of the two clubs.
At the capital’s GSP stadium it appeared as if two different worlds had met: on the APOEL side – whose fan base is traditionally right-wing — there was a plethora of Greek flags being waved while on the Omonia side none were on display by its mostly left-wing supporters.
That was until an Omonia fan pulled out a Greek flag from his pocket and proceeded to light it on fire. The incident occurred just a few minutes into the second half and during a 21 minute stoppage of the game due to a flare being thrown on the field.
APOEL were leading the game 3-0 at the time of the incident, which was also the final score.
Police last night arrested the 31-year-old fan for insulting a national symbol.
Earlier yesterday, a police source expressed doubts whether the fan could be successfully prosecuted as he claims to suffer from a mental illness and holds the medical documentation to prove this.
At the end of the game, Dionysis Chiotis APOEL’s Greek goalkeeper who appeared disturbed by the incident took a Greek flag and, while hugging fellow APOEL players, took a lap of honour around the pitch.
At the post-match press conference Chiotis said: “We are all Greeks. I am Greek and you are Greek Cypriots. I will not tolerate anyone burning the Greek flag. It is unacceptable for them to swear at your country while they are on Greek ground. I hope that the incident has also bothered the Greeks of Omonia.”
Responding to the question of why he took a lap of honour while waving the Greek flag Chiotis said, “that was my response to those who burned the flag, that we are all Greek.”
Omonia officials moved swiftly to condemn the incident. “We condemn what has happened,“ Omonia board member Pavlos Chrysanthou said. “The burning of the flag was unacceptable. These are actions that create tension and do not contribute to the promotion of sportsmanship. Caution and moderation must prevail.”
Omonia Spokesman Theodoros Kafkarides added that the fan had managed to offend 140,000 Omonia fans.
Youth organisation EDON, which is affiliated to AKEL, also condemned the incident, saying it was a “vulgar act”.
But EDON also took a shot at APOEL fans who collectively chanted abusive slogans against President Demetris Christofias.
“No APOEL officials found the strength to condemn this fact and almost all the media only chose to present the unacceptable action of one or two Omonia fans,” EDON said.
At the same time APOEL called for the arrest and prosecution of the fan.
Vice chairman Andis Polydorou, characterised the Greek flag “as something very sacred to us for at APOEL”.
In Cyprus the Greek flag is considered a national symbol and deliberately damaging a Cypriot national symbol is considered illegal.
The incident is set to worsen relations between the two sets of supporters whose vendetta came to a head last season when Omonia won the championship, beating APOEL three times in the process.
In the most serious incident of all, a 20-year-old APOEL fan almost died after he was beaten senseless during clashes with Omonia fans.
The 20-year-old was beaten with hockey sticks at the Nuevo Campo futsal ground where APOEL fans, on their way to Larnaca, attacked Omonia supporters who were organising a tournament.
The skirmish had nothing to do with that weekend’s football fixtures
