In its latest monthly report, the CIES Football Observatory focused on the demographic landscape of the world’s 48 major football leagues, bringing some concerning news for the Cypriot championship.

According to the research findings, the Cypriot first division takes the lead as the league with the highest percentage of foreign-born players, with 70.8%. Trailing closely is the Greek league at 64.3%.

At the forefront of this trend are two Cypriot teams. Paphos FC has 92.3% foreign-born players in its squad, closely followed by champions Aris Limassol with 88.5%. The third spot is claimed by the Greek team Aris Thessaloniki, with 85.2%.

CIES also found that the Cypriot league is among the top five regarding the average age of its players. Ranking fifth globally, with an average player age of 27.73 years, Cyprus sits behind China (28.41), Japan (27.91), Saudi Arabia (27.9), and Greece (27.8).

Doxa Katokopias made its mark in this less-than-desirable statistic, securing the third position with an average player age of 29.98, only surpassed by China’s Qingdao Huanghai and Greek team Lamia, both standing at 29.99.
https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/sports/cyprus-football-league-tops-international-list-for-percentage-of-foreign-born-players/