Blame game kicks off again
A FOOTBALL match on Sunday was called off at half-time because of crowd trouble.
The cancellation renewed concerns that despite any efforts, hooliganism on the island is far from being a thing of the past.
Local champions APOEL were leading 2-0 against Apollon Limassol at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia when referee Stelios Tryfonos called off the match after fans began hurling objects onto the pitch.
Two police cars outside the stadium were damaged after the match while an APOEL supporter was taken to hospital with slight injuries.
It is the first time that a game has been called off this season.
Tryfonos’ decision to call off the game received a mixed reaction. Police officials praising his decision while Apollon officials hit out, saying that the game could have gone on.
Nicosia Police Chief Kypros Michaelides had told reporters after the match the referee “did the right thing in the end”.
A preseason meeting between club, police and Cyprus Football Association (CFA) officials had ended with referees being given strict instructions to stop play if supporters hurled objects onto the pitch or into opposing stands.
During Sunday’s high-profile clash, the referee had repeatedly asked officials to make stadium announcements calling on fans to stop throwing objects onto the pitch and into opposing stands.
Their calls fell on deaf ears, as Apollon fans continued to shower APOEL goalkeeper Jane Nikoloski, with flares also thrown into the APOEL stands.
According to the referee’s match report, fans from the Apollon stands threw various object such as flares, pipes, stones and even a knife at the APOEL goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, the CFA match delegate Christos Skapoullis noted in his own report that Nikoloski threw objects that were thrown at him back into the stands.
The referee also noted that APOEL fans threw various objects at assistant referee Yiannis Louca while three flares were thrown onto the pitch after APOEL scored a goal.
It was also noted in the report that there was an exchange of flares between the supporters of both sides.
The Vice Chairman of Apollon Nicos Kyrzis later told state television that Apollon player Periklis Moustakkas and two of his friends were attacked as they left the GSP stadium after the game.
“Does anyone wonder why we bother with football when certain fools turn up at games and try to ruin everything that we build?” said Apollon Chairman Frixos Savvides after the match.
Savvides also accused the APOEL goalkeeper of inciting more tension which led to the referee calling off the game.
Savvides also saw the referee’s decision to call off the game as “totally wrong” saying that he should have waited until half-time.
“Why didn’t the referee wait until half-time before deciding on whether to stop the game? I believe that a 15-minute break would have calmed things down and the game could have gone ahead as normal.”
Savvides’ counterpart, Kyriakos Zivanaris, was under no illusion as to whose fault it was that the game was cancelled.
The APOEL chairman said his side wanted to win on the pitch and not on paper, referring to reports that his side will be given the three points after the CFA meet at a disciplinary hearing to rule on the outcome of the game.
“The reason the game was stopped was due to the behaviour of the Apollon fans”.
The trouble began after APOEL’s Helio Pinto – a former Apollon player – scored the opening goal after 30 minutes.
The disgruntled Apollon fans began showering the APOEL goalkeeper even more when Nicos Machlas made it 2-0 six minutes later.
The referee eventually called off the match at the end of the half.
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