Koumas to face 25 charges over conflict of interest, money laundering
Former football association president Giorgos Koumas will make his first appearance before the Nicosia district court next Thursday, to face 25 charges in a criminal case centred on alleged conflicts of interest linked to football television rights and related financial dealings.
The charges cover the period from 2015 to 2025.
These include maintaining professional and financial links incompatible with Koumas’ role as head of the Cyprus football association (CFA), as well as two counts of money laundering involving sums estimated at approximately €6.5 million.
According to the charges, Koumas is accused of breaching provisions of the law on combating the manipulation of sports events and article 20 of the criminal code by allegedly operating, through companies under his control, within sectors directly connected to organised sport.
These activities are said to have included the production and live broadcast of sporting events, the management of television rights and the exploitation of internet and mobile broadcasting rights for football, basketball and horse racing.
Among the organisations cited in the indictment are Cyta, Cablenet, the Nicosia horse racing club and the basketball federation, alongside the CFA itself.
Prosecutors claim these links created conflicts of interest while Koumas was serving as a senior football official with supervisory responsibilities.
Regarding the counts relating specifically to money laundering, prosecutors say that proceeds derived from the activities described in the earlier charges were subsequently concealed or channelled through corporate structures.
The sums involved, according to the indictment, amount to around €6.5 million.
A new hearing date is anticipated to be requested as Koumas’ lawyers, Christos Triantafyllidis and Marios Orphanides, have said they will ask for time to review the case file.
“We will respond through the proper legal process,” Triantafyllidis said.
The criminal investigation was launched after the sports ethics committee submitted a report to attorney-general, Georgios Savvides, in October 2023, raising concerns about what it described as “multiple conflicts of interest”.
The allegations trace back more than a decade and focus primarily on football television rights, the management and distribution of related revenues, and whether those arrangements created conflicts of interest that carried criminal liability.
Koumas resigned from the football association presidency in June 2025, saying the decision was taken to “protect football from further controversy”.
He has consistently denied any wrongdoing and maintains that his actions were lawful.
He continues to hold positions within international football bodies.