Limassol clash to start off Cyprus championship

ALL EYES will be in Limassol today with the Cyprus Championship set to kick-off with the local derby match between rivals AEL Limassol and Apollon Limassol.

Police security is also expected to be tight at the Tsirion Athletic Centre with both sides making ambitious new signings in the summer and with fans from both sides eager to win some silverware this time around.

Current champions APOEL will begin the defence of their title tomorrow at home to minnows Doxa Katokopia while this season’s favourites and UEFA Cup hopefuls Anorthosis Famagusta face a tricky away test at Enosis Neon Paralimniou on Monday.

In the other game tomorrow, Alki Larnaca meet Svetoza Sapuric’s Ethnikos Achnas.

Omonia – who crashed out of the UEFA Cup on Thursday against CSKA Sofia – will be in derby action themselves on Monday when they take on Juan Ramon Roca’s Olympiakos Nicosia.

In their other games today, second division champions APOP Kinyras/Peyias face Nea Salamina whilst in another eye-catcher, AEK Larnaca take on Aris Limassol.

Both sides made big signings in the transfer market with AEK luring a contingent of Venezuela internationals whilst Aris also dug deep this summer signing on Portuguese playmaker Paulo Costa and Cypriot internationals Yiasemis Yiasemakis.

The Cyprus Football Association (CFA) had announced this summer that they would be introducing a new format to the first division but it received a mixed reaction from the clubs and most of the media.

At the end of the season, the remaining four top teams in the first division will battle it out amongst each other – in home and away legs – with the eventual champion being the team left with the most points.

The new move is expected to reap in more revenue from ticket sales and television rights but also expected to generate more interest in the title race.
??

??

??

??

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.