The Cyprus Football Association (CFA) and the Footballers’ Association (Pasp) both called for radical measures to combat football violence following a meeting on Thursday.
A set of suggested measures were agreed upon at the meeting, which was attended by CFA president Giorgos Koumas, Pasp executive president Spyros Neofytides, and other high-level members of both organisations.
The meeting comes in the aftermath of a Coca Cola Cup match between Nea Salamina and Apoel being abandoned on Tuesday after a firecracker launched from the stand hit Nea Salamina’s Giorgos Papageorgiou in the head.
Reports after the match suggested Papageorgiou’s hearing had been damaged in the incident.
The measures will now be submitted for approval by the CFA’s board of directors, while Pasp will inform its representatives at Cyprus’ professional football clubs before they are announced to the public.
“We are on the same wavelength as Pasp. No athlete and no sports fan should be in danger on the field of play. Punishments do not solve the problem. Radical measures need to be taken,” Koumas said following the meeting.
“We have one of the most competitive leagues in Europe. The last thing we want is for matches to be held in empty grounds. That would be a big blow for our game. However, we must keep in mind that, above all, human life is important,” he said.
Additionally, he said he welcomes President Nikos Christodoulides’ personal interest in the matter.
“All together, the CFA, Pasp and the state, we must make football grounds safe for families and fans and protect the sport.”
Spyros Neofytides said the views of Pasp and the CFA are “very close” to one another, and added, “everyone must take their own responsibility. All of us together must face this common enemy.”
The man who allegedly threw the firecracker was arrested in Nicosia on Wednesday night.
Also on Tuesday, in the aftermath of a game between Omonia 29th May and Anorthosis, a stone was thrown through the rear window of a police car.
The police had come under fire for a failure to exercise effective control over football crowds, with police spokesman Christos Andreou on the defensive on Wednesday,
“It is impossible that such a large number of items are entering through the main gates. It is also very difficult to completely curb the smuggling-in of such very small items and impossible to check [all the] places where they can be hidden,” he said.
Earlier in the month, footballers had threatened to strike over dangerous conditions at football grounds.
A meeting of representatives of players from first division teams saw participants express concerns about “the unfavourable conditions in which they are forced to play”.
“Footballers are particularly concerned … about insufficient checks on the gates of stadia, about firecrackers, flares, and other dangerous objects – even glass bottles – being thrown, about the entrance of hooded fans into stadia, as well as the insufficient number of stewards,” they said.
They added that they are asking for guarantees that they will be protected while working.
“It is clear that illegal acts at football stadiums have become the norm,” they said, adding that legislation on the matter is “not being implemented as it should be”.
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