THE LARNACA district court yesterday sentenced two men, aged 26 and 27, each to four months in jail for their role in rushing on to the pitch during a football match that had to be called off.
Four more are to be sentenced next Wednesday, and another man was jailed ten days ago.
Yesterday’s sentencing came only hours after a policeman lost three teeth and had his upper lip stitched up after being hit by a stone thrown by APOEL fans on Thursday night.
Fans of the Nicosia football club, which lost its Europa League playoff tie 4-2 on aggregate to Azerbaijani side Neftchi Baku PFC at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia, initiated trouble after the match ended. They lit flares and threw stones and firecrackers onto the pitch, resulting in the injury of the policeman who was taken by ambulance to Nicosia General Hospital, where he was treated and discharged.
The police yesterday said the officer would be on sick leave for a week. Strovolos police station is investigating the case, though as of yesterday, no arrests were made.
The judge who sentenced the two twentysomethnings yesterday said: “Protecting sports from violence is the duty of the court. Fair play must be the rule and not the exception, and playgrounds should harbour entertainment, sportsmanship and healthy competition, as they did in the past.”
The court will also hand out sentences to four other men – two aged 26, a 25-year-old and a 22-year-old –for similar offences during the same game: an August 9 Europa League qualifier between Anorthosis and Georgian guest Dila Gori.
Those four are in custody pending a sentence hearing on Wednesday.
Some ten days ago, the court sentenced a 20-year-old to four months imprisonment.
The 20-year-old had jumped into the pitch close to the end of a game to ask the goalkeeper why Anorthosis was losing 0-3.
He approached the goalie, and when police moved in to arrest him, dozens of other Anorthosis fans invaded the pitch, forcing the referee to stop the game.
Outside the stadium, fans threw stones at people and cars.
Anorthosis was fined €50,000 by European football governing body UEFA and must have their next three European home games behind closed doors.
The football club condemned the violence and has said it is banning for life everyone found guilty of related offences. The police have been unable to identify any more fans involved in the trouble.
The court yesterday said that the behaviour of some of Anorthosis’ fans had damaged the team’s reputation and gave negative publicity to Cyprus. “The way all of the accused behaved is unacceptable,” the court said.
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