Despite being dumped out of the Champions League by Ajax, APOEL FC will see some EUR 9 mln flowing into the club’s coffers, making up for losses incurred from last year’s failure in Europe.

APOEL found itself on the doorstep of the lucrative Champion League group stage, only to be knocked out after a 2-0 defeat by a superior Ajax side in Amsterdam.

The Nicosia club was hoping to conjure a football upset after drawing 0-0 with the Dutch Champions at home and qualify for the Champions League group stages putting their hands on potential prize money of some EUR 20-30 mln.

Instead, APOEL FC will see a minimum of EUR 9 mln generated as they have secured some EUR 5 mln from their participation in the CL playoff stage and another EUR 2.92 mln for their participation in the Europa League Group stage, where they automatically find themselves.

APOEL will also receive EUR  570,000 for every victory in the group stage and EUR 190,000 for every draw.

The club has also secured some EUR 660,000 from participating in preliminary rounds of the CL, while its expected to see more income from a pool which will be distributed to teams participating in the Europa League according to their final ranking.

Income from APOEL’s European campaign may not suffice to cover the club’s EUR 19 mln budget, but it will certainly go a long way.

With budgets raised, the only way Cyprus top clubs can sustain them is to profit from European competition such as the Champions League and the Europa League.

APOEL being the team with the most appearances in the CL group stage has a budget the dwarfs the rest of the Cyprus league.

The 28-times Cyprus champions have made tens of millions from participation in Europe over the past decade.

However, the seven times in a row champions found themselves in a tight spot after being knocked out early from the lucrative Champions League last summer by unfancied Lithuanian outfit FK Suduva in one of the biggest shocks the club has experienced.

Following its failure in the CL qualifying rounds, APOEL was demoted to the Europa League where it was knocked out by Kazakhstani outfit Astana – this contributed to a EUR 7 mln loss in revenue last year.