WHETHER or not it hurts us to admit it, Cyprus is unlikely to be challenging the USA or China for first place in the Olympic Gold Medal chart come 2008.
Hence the surprise when one of our main, if not one of our only realistic hopes of an Olympic gold medal in the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, will not be able to train every day thanks to a dispute over the legitimacy of the Paphos shooting range.
The Paphos shooting range has been illegal since 2001, after authorities refused to renew its licence, citing a number of reasons that the Shooting Club claims are non-existent.
The Paphos Shooting Club has a total of 210 members and is home to around 35 active athletes, including George Achilleos, currently ranked second in the world in the Mens Skeet after winning gold in the World Championships held in the Dominican Republic.
Neophytos Hadjialexandrou, President of the Club, gave an insight into the problems that they were facing.
“There are complaints being made against us to the authorities every once in a while. Local residents that have found out that we are practicing illegally are constantly calling the Citizens Hotline about us,” he said.
The current law in Cyprus states that if caught shooting at an illegal range, you could be sentenced to a year in prison as well as a fine up to £4,000.
In a meeting back in 2001chaired by the former Interior Minister Andreas Christou, the Club was asked to make the necessary changes so that their licence would be renewed.
Among the reasons for not renewing their licence, the Paphos District Office alluded to the fact that the Club’s membership list included minors and someone that had been charged with arson, as well as that there was no road to access the range. Moreover, during the meeting the Club was asked to look into an alternative site for their range.
Hadjialexandrou was adamant that they had made all the necessary changes and should be given their licence.
“We never had minors on our membership list while a public road has been built for the site. In addition to this, the actual member they are talking about died three years ago. We have looked into finding an alternative site in the area and this has proved impossible as a very large space is needed for the creation of a shooting range,” he said.
According to Hadjialexandrou, both alternative sites were not viable, being more than 60 kilometres away from the current location.
Demetris Aristotelous, community leader of the village of Ayia Varvara, situated one kilometre from the range, said that this was not true.
“It is not that they haven’t found an alternative site, they simply have not looked for one. It is unbelievable for us that the police are turning a blind eye when it is so blatant that the shooting range is illegal. We are determined to take this to European courts if necessary, it is shocking,” he told the Sunday Mail.
Aristotelous added that members of the village council were receiving threatening phone calls well into the night.
“Both the Vice-President of the council and I have been receiving threatening phone calls, someone called me at 1am recently,” he added.
Hadjialexandrou did call for the need of a development of a positive climate between the Shooting Club and the local community of Ayia Varvara.
“We are very much willing to conduct research into the environmental impact of the range so as to create a good relationship with the village but we really have to get this licence so that we can invest into the site. Given that the actual site is in an area where it is allowed to have a shooting range, we are also looking into possibly expanding the range by 40 donums,” he said.
The community leader of the village stated that he was extremely concerned at the noise as well as the environmental impact from the bullet shells.
“At times it is like a war zone here from the noise. The nearest houses are some 400 metres from the range even though they are saying it is a kilometre away. Another major problem is the lead-filled bullet shells that go into the area where the river is located,” Aristotelous claimed.
After a meeting that took place on Thursday between all interested parties, it was agreed that the Club would only practice – even though this was still illegal – on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and on Sunday only for National Competitions. This arrangement would be in place on a temporary basis until an ultimate solution was found.
Hadjialexandrou does claim that if this continues it is likely to jeopardise the chances of 26-year-old Achilleos as well as a number of other exciting prospects in the sport.
While this threat is something that should worry the Cyprus Sports Organisation (CSO), an official source from the organisation told the Sunday Mail that it was impossible for the CSO to run after each and every athlete.
“This is not something for the CSO to come to terms with. That is why we have so many sports federations in place, so that they can cater for their athletes. It is not practical to ask the Sports Organisation to deal with the well-being of every sportsperson here in Cyprus,” he said.
He also said that it was the fault of the Shooting Club that they found themselves in such a position and that they should stop trying to shoulder the blame.
“They themselves are to blame for not dealing with everything that they knew had to be done since 2001. The CSO is not under the supervision of sports federations, this is the other way round,” he added.
While the debate is likely to go on for some time yet, Achilleos, who has already guaranteed his place in the Beijing games, will be hoping that the wrangle over the legality of the shooting range is resolved very soon.
