Omonia fans charged after soccer violence

TWO OMONIA fans were charged yesterday in connection with violence during and after a football match in Larnaca on Saturday, bringing the total of suspected hooligans charged after the match to four.

Disturbances outside the Antonis Papadopoulos stadium after the top of the table Anorthosis-Omonia clash left a 13-year-old boy seriously injured, police said. A police officer also had to be treated in hospital for a head injury after being hit by a stone as police tried to break up rival fans.

Police made four arrests.

The most serious incident – which left teenager Nicos Lambrou with a fractured skull – was sparked by Anorthosis fans spitting at the car of National Guardsman Constantinos Christoforou, 18. Police said Christoforou reacted by reversing into the rival fans, hitting Nicos, from Moutayiaka outside Limassol. Nicos was rushed to Larnaca hospital where his condition was yesterday described as steady.

The National Guardsman, from Mosfiloti village in the Larnaca District, was arrested after the incident. Christoforou was yesterday charged with reckless driving and released.

Fellow Omonia fan Antonis Ermogenous, 20 from Nicosia, was also charged yesterday in connection with an alleged attack on an Anorthosis player during the match, which ended in a 2-2 draw. Ermogenous was released after being charged.

The other two men arrested after the match were charged and released on Sunday.

Georgios Katsiamis, 30, from the Larnaca district village of Psevdas, was arrested for attacking Anorthosis fans, and Alexandros Koumouros, 27, from Paralimni, was held for throwing a plastic bottle on to the pitch during the match.

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