SATURDAY’S controversial APOEL-Apollon football match at the GSP stadium in Nicosia was marred by violence both inside and outside the ground.
Six people were injured, including two policemen, with three arrests being made.
Before the match even began, two brothers, who are APOEL supporters, were attacked by Apollon fans, who got out of their car to assault them. Both brothers suffered head injuries and were treated by the stadium doctor who administered first aid.
During the game itself, two policemen in the north stand were injured after being attacked by supporters, whose allegiance remains unclear.
Around half an hour after the match ended, at around 10.30pm, three young women, all Apollon fans on their drive back home to Limassol, were set upon by a gang. A 21-year-old suffered injuries to her right arm, while a 20-year-old suffered facial injuries. Police later arrested a 15-year-old from Larnaca, who admitted to throwing a rock through the car’s rear windscreen.
According to police sources, 36 fireworks and a flare were found hidden under seats in the stands after the match, which ended 2-2, leaving many APOEL officials and supporters unhappy with some of referee Costas Theodotou’s decisions.
APOEL fan Andreas Avgousti, 23, who was at the game, yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that he didn’t see any trouble before or after the match, but accused the scorer of Apollon’s second goal, Paiva, of inciting the home fans, who reacted by hurling plastic bottles at him.
When told of the fireworks discovery, Avgousti said that, “this is what you would expect. They were probably hidden under the seats as the fans didn’t get to use all of them, due to the result.”
He added that, “at no stage did I feel frightened, but this is not the case when we travel to Limassol for away games, as stadium security there isn’t as good as in Nicosia.”
The President of the Cyprus Football Association, Costakis Koutsokoumnis, said his organisation is “today receiving the referee’s and match commissioner’s report and will then be in a better position to comment.”
But he praised the police discovery of the fireworks cache, saying, “in previous years, the police would not have found it, so I praise them for their good work.”
He added that, “better and more effective policing is needed and the law should be modernised in order to come down harder on offenders.”
