Club chairman Christos Poullaides will be visiting London next week and will be meeting with representatives of Anorthosis London and supporters of Anorthosis Cyprus and the Cypriot community in London plus will be holding an open meeting at Greek Cypriot Brotherhood Centre at Brittania Road, London N12 9RU on Thursday April the 3rd 2014 at 7pm to discuss the developments and problems of the Cypriot club.
For more information please telephone the Chairman of Anorthosis (London) Kypros Costi 07960 924810.
Anorthosis Famagusta spokesperson Marinos Mitrou admits “things are difficult” as the refugee club aims to raise just over €1million by the end of the month.
Club chairman Christos Poullaides had been rigorously campaigning to get members to approve his plans for a company creation and he finally got his wish during the club’s general assembly three weeks ago.
The refugee club are enduring huge financial problems with the club reportedly €14million to €17m in debt and needing to raise €1.3m by the end of the month in order to pass the UEFA Financial Fair Play criteria.
It is believed that the club have managed to raise just over half that amount but time is quickly running out for them with the March 31 deadline closing in fast.
On the pitch, the situation is equally disastrous with the club having not won a game in their last eight matches and enduring their worse run in over 20 years. They are currently sixth in the table and in danger of missing out on Europa League football next season.
“We are still missing a huge amount”, Mitrou told Super Sport FM yesterday. “We have ten days left and we are now heading into the final part of mass collection. But things are difficult.”
Nicos Kostenoglou’s (photo) Anorthosis next take on Omonia on Sunday and will all but kiss away their chances of European football if they fail to beat Costas Kaiafas’ men as it would see them slip eight points behind fifth place with eight games left to go in the end-of-season playoffs.
Club officials are hopeful that Anorthosis will finally get back on their feet in about two years following the creation of a company. And they are also predicted a bumpy next two years as they weather the storm.
Former coach and Anorthosis legend Temuri Ketsbaia recently blamed the “amateurish” running of the club by people “who don’t have a clue about football” and pointed to the fact that it is almost impossible to motivate players who have not been paid to go out and play well.
Anorthosis lost their game 3-0 at home to league leaders AEL in what was yet another uninspiring performance by the team but Mitrou believes they should be motivated by the fact that they are playing for Anorthosis.
“We again didn’t manage to please our fans,” continued the club spokesman. “We are not looking for excuses but it is unncaeptable for a team like Anorthosis to still be looking for its first win after eight games…We believe that playing for Anorthosis should be motivation in itself.”
