Cyprus football association convenes over stadium violence ahead of weekend match
Incidents of violence in and around football stadiums and how to deal with them will be discussed on Friday at a meeting of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA).
Meanwhile, police issued an announcement calling on fans “to respect the sport, their team and their opponents” ahead of the Anorthosi-Omonia match scheduled for 7pm on Saturday at the Antonis Papadopoulos stadium in Larnaca.
The announcement was accompanied by detailed instructions for arrival and departure and a list of prohibited items.
The CFA meeting was called in the wake of incidents that unfolded on Sunday at the Apollon-AEL derby match as part of the Cyprus League in Limassol.
CFA President Giorgos Koumas will convene with the heads of first division teams at the association’s headquarters at 1pm.
Meanwhile, ten arrests have been made and a total of 26 people are still wanted by the police in connection the latest violent episodes in which three police officers were injured. Riot police tried to quell the trouble after a large number of fans, some without tickets, broke down stadium doors and entered en masse.
Flares were thrown and Molotov cocktails were found by police, who called for everyone inside the stadium to evacuate to undergo the prerequisite check for tickets and banned items.
Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis on Tuesday called on football clubs to corral what he referred to as the “100, 500 or even 1,000 mindless thugs”.
He criticised the CFA for not taking stronger measures in advance of the match, adding that the government had been urging them to do so.
The violent scenes occurred within merely three weeks, after away fans were allowed back into stadiums having been banned following earlier violence.
Away fans had been banned from all competitive football matches in January after a firecracker launched from a stand hit a player in the head during a Coca Cola Cup match between Nea Salamina and Apoel, with the player reportedly suffering damaged hearing as a result.
Just days later in January, another Limassol derby was cancelled due to violence inside and outside the Alphamega Stadium.