Junior football teams compete in bi-communal match

A LIMASSOL junior football club traveled to the north on Tuesday to play in a match against Turkish Cypriot students, having been given authorisation by the Minister of Education to take time off school.

Around 40 Greek Cypriot students, all members of the AEL football academy, took part in the game under supervision of the Football Veterans’ Testimonial programme.

The student football teams requested permission for the excursion from their school board, which was passed on to the Ministry of Education and finally approved.

General Manager of AEL Michalis Kaukalias said that a Turkish Cypriot team had proposed the junior football game, and he saw no reason why it should not go ahead.

“We felt that it would be a good experience for the students,” said Kaukalias “and that it was in the spirit of the community efforts being made recently by both sides.”

Kaukalias, continued to say that football games were regularly played between Turkish Cypriot teams and the Football Veterans’ Testimonial Programme, which firmly supports bi-communal activities.

When asked why the match took place on the first day of the school year, Kaukalias replied that it was the only day both sides could commit to, and was completely coincidental.

Kaukalias dismissed criticism by Simerini newspaper over the students having to present their passports when crossing over to the north. “The students were asked to produce their passports at the checkpoint as is everyone,” said Kaukalias.” We all know this is the standard procedure when crossing to the north, so it should have been obvious that our football teams would have been asked to do the same.”

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