Courtesy: Cyprus Mail


Futsal first division matches on hold

by Peter Stevenson

December 25, 2012

THE CYPRUS Football Association (CFA) has announced, after marathon talks that it has put futsal’s first division on hold until further notice.

This comes after police sent the CFA a report informing them that of the five stadiums that futsal matches are played, only two are safe enough to host matches. The move by the CFA and the police has brought widespread derision amongst those in the futsal community in Cyprus.
The decision to put the championship on hiatus has brought with it the resignation of the head of the futsal committee, Giorgos Mihanikos. “I handed in my resignation because I had to take responsibility as the head of the committee for futsal after the unfortunate suspension of the championship,” he told Super Sport FM. “In my humble opinion the police reports were hasty, wrong and invalid,” he added. “There is no severe reason for this painful measure which has been taken. The stadiums’ unsuitability has nothing to do with the buildings or the pitches or anything else,” he concluded.
The clubs are equally distressed by the decision made by the board of the CFA. “What gives them the right, halfway through the season, to decide that our stadiums are not suitable?” Ararat Futsal Club’s team manager Barrett Costantian asked. “At the start of the season and according to the CFA regulations, our stadium was seen as fit to host matches, what exactly has changed?” he added.
Although futsal is not seen as a major sport in Cyprus, this year has seen an influx of fans something which is directly related to the island’s football rivalries. Last season the first division of futsal had two big names from the world of football, Omonoia and AEL, but this year after the promotion of AEK Larnaca and Enosis Neon Paralimniou along with APOEL’s co-operation with already existing club City, that number has more than doubled. Popularity in the sport has risen but so have the number of incidents between rival fans, something the police have had to deal with.
According to police, after an increase in fans and incidents they were forced to visit all of the stadiums that host first-division matches and decide whether they were safe enough. Unfortunately for the sport, only Eleftheria Stadium, home to Omonoia and Nicos Solomonides Stadium, home to AEL were deemed suitable. Safety is the main issue for the police and the changes they have asked the teams to make to their stadiums is to prevent any contact whatsoever between fans and players.
On Wednesday, during a meeting at the CFA, the board of directors attempted to find a solution to the problem to allow the championship to continue. One suggestion was that matches could take place with no fans until the necessary safety measures were installed but the police did not accept the measures.
“According to legislation, the stadiums of all first division teams of any sport must have safety certificates otherwise it is illegal for matches to take place,” a police spokesman said.
“Five teams in Nicosia are hosted by two stadiums that have now suddenly been deemed unsuitable, so what will the CFA do? Will they continue the championship without us if we can’t fix our stadiums?” Costanian asked again. “We built our stadium on our own, with no funding or help from the government and now the state is telling us we need to fix it,” he added. “At the start of the season our stadium was given the green light, so if the CFA or the Cyprus Sports Organisation want to give us the money to make it ‘suitable’ then we would be more than willing to fix it,” he concluded.
According to sources inside the CFA, attempts were made to find a compromise to the solution but so far some of the clubs have been unwilling to fully co-operate and make the necessary changes the police demanded.






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com