The President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, spoke with the President of Cyprus Football Association (CFA), George Koumas, and conveyed the intention of the Government to order a ban on spectators in all football matches, if violence in stadiums continues, following incidents that took place last week.
Replying to questions from journalists, in Inia, a village in Paphos district, the President said that he asked Koumas to inform football clubs that “we can no longer tolerate this situation and the intention of the state is, if this state of affairs isn’t terminated, all matches to be carried out without the presence of fans”. He noted that a CFA codecision was required.
CFA announced on Friday that starting from the 21st match week, away fans in Cyprus are banned from games in the first and second division and the Cup, after a firecracker thrown from the stands injured a player.
Speaking on Saturday to CNA, Constantinos Shamboullis, the Football Association’s press officer, said that CFA’s decision to
ban away fans was necessary. “We needed to do something immediately”, he noted, referring to hooliganism incidents that put football players in danger.
“We believe that by banning the movement of fans, we make it easier to police matches”, he said, while expressing hope that “it will be a measure that will produce immediate results”.
Source: Cyprus News Agency