Club officials of APOEL and AEL hit out against the police on Tuesday after scuffles broke out between fans of both sides prior to kickoff.
Witnesses said that trouble erupted on the Nicosia-Limassol motorway, just shy of the GSP Stadium and yards away from the Nuevo Camp Futsal Pitches. Fights also broke out at both roundabouts between fans, further highlighting gaps in police’s security measures ahead of the heated encounter.
The fire services were also called to several fields outside the ground after small fires were spotted while the fights on the motorway also brought traffic to a temporary standstill.
State television later reported that nine people were arrested in connection with the violence while four people – two police officers and two fans – were also injured.
One fan was last night in hospital in serious condition after being struck in the eye by a stray rock that had been thrown. More arrests are also expected to take place according to one police official.
“In the last seven days, we held four meetings with the police in a bid to enforce preventative measures,” APOEL media officer Nektarios Petevinos told Super Sport FM. “It seems that the only thing we managed to achieve was successfully wasting our time. The police informed us that officers would be present in large numbers. Well where are they?”
He added, “Instead of looking forward to what should be a great game of football, we are forced to discuss the police’s inability to properly marshal fans travelling to the ground.”
Meanwhile, AEL general manager Ploutis Avraam also questioned the measures of the police, going as far as to accuse them of being “unprepared” to act.
“Security measures were not honoured and as a result, our fans were attacked by APOEL fans after becoming trapped. We have already informed the Justice Minister [Ionas Nicolaou]. The police came unprepared. We are fortunate that the situation didn’t escalate.”
Police spoke
Fighting between rival fans has become a frequent phenomenon in Cyprus in the last ten years despite continuous campaigns by the clubs, the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) and the police.
Yesterday, police spokesman Andreas Angelides hit back at claims that the police failed to take the necessary precautions saying that clubs were using the police as a scapegoat for the clashes that took place.
The game ended in a 3-0 victory to APOEL – a result which sent them to the top of the league table above AEL and with five games still to go.

Cyprus Weekly