APOEL’s stunning comeback in a Champions League qualifier on Tuesday evening has been marred by allegations of unsportsmanlike behaviour on the part of the Nicosia club, with the visiting Norwegian team even claiming they received death threats inside the football stadium.
Trailing 2-1 to Norway’s Rosenborg from the first leg in Norway, APOEL looked to be heading out as the game entered stoppage time. But the hosts produced three goals in injury time, seeing them through to the playoff round.
The match featured eight bookings including three in injury time.
Rosenborg manager Kare Ingebrigtsen claims his side’s dugout was pelted with objects from the APOEL section of fans throughout the game.
“We were getting death threats. We’ve never seen anything like it in European competitions before,” Ingebrigtsen was quoted as saying by Cypriot media.
He went on to claim that both the fans as well as APOEL club officials created an atmosphere of absolute mayhem inside the GSP stadium, with match officials losing control of the situation.
Likewise, Rosenborg’s assistant coach Erik Hoftun said home fans screamed: “We will find your hotel and come and kill you.”
“I don’t know how seriously the threat should be taken, but I think it absurd that we had to experience this last night. A death threat…I mean, I don’t know, it’s not as if we had to run and hide. But it was said,” he said.
In the meantime, Hoftun said, APOEL officials were doing everything they could to throw the game into disarray, and he accused the hosts of deliberate time-wasting tactics.
“I don’t know how many people entered our team’s technical area, but there must have been around 100 objects hurled at the fourth match official…they [APOEL officials] came into our technical area and were kicking balls onto the pitch.”
The Rosenborg official, however, stopped short of blaming their elimination on the tense climate.
Rosenborg CEO Tove Moe Dyrhaug meanwhile was quoted as saying “we need to sit down and see what we can do about this situation.”
Norwegian sports website adressa.no contacted APOEL spokesman Nektarios Petevinos for a comment.
Petevinos denied the allegations against APOEL, and hit back saying that the Nicosia club has footage showing the Rosenborg manager engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct.
