PARLIAMENT could pass legislation barring football stadiums from hosting games if they did not meet security requirements, paying particular attention to the installation of closed circuit television cameras (CCTV), DISY deputy Ionas Nicolaou said yesterday.
The House Legal Affairs Committee yesterday discussed the legislation concerning security in football stadiums and confirmed the need for a more efficient and stricter approach to the matter in light of recent violence, which saw a cup fixture abandoned eight minutes from full time after the referee was hit by an object thrown by fans.
Acting committee chairman Nicolaou told reporters that the committee had asked all sides involved to submit their final views on the issue while at the same time taking into consideration European Union directives concerning violence.
The committee decided to proceed to the adoption of the EU provisions and include them into the legislation with immediate effect, Nicolaou said.
The EU demands stricter measures to prevent violence.
The sports federation was given a month to submit its proposals in relation to the EU directives as well as studies regarding the installation of CCTV, Nicolaou said.
He added that the intention was to give enough time for CCTV systems to be installed in at least all division one stadiums.
“If this is not achieved, the committee will ask for games to be banned in stadiums that do not meet the security requirements,” Nicolaou said.
He did not rule out the possibility of legislating to ban fixtures from such fields.
He stressed that currently there was an inability of enforcing the law and suggested the adoption of additional measures to make law enforcement more efficient.
Nicolaou said the law would also provide for stiffer sanctions for club officials involved in violent actions, adding that it was unacceptable to see officials engaging in crowd provoking behaviour.
“You cannot have a team chairman or other officials behaving in an unacceptable way, which provokes fans and contributes to the unacceptable climate,” Nicolaou said.
Asked about the timeframe for the installation of CCTV systems, Nicolaou said it could be one year for some pitches and two for others.
Football violence is a frequent phenomenon in Cyprus and despite various measures there is no sign of improvement.
It was only recently that unruly fans were brought before the courts, but their young ages usually guarantees them getting off with light sentences or just a rap.
