Police make more arrests over Limassol football violence
A sixth and seventh person were arrested on Wednesday in connection with violent episodes which broke out at the abandoned Limassol derby between Ael and Apollon on Sunday.
The pair, aged 25 and 23 years old, were arrested on suspicion of having illegally entered a sports venue and having caused a match to be cancelled.
Their arrests come after a 34-year-old man was arrested shortly after 8pm on Tuesday. He is expected to appear in court on Wednesday.
A 21-year-old, an 18-year-old, and two 17-year-olds were already arrested after the match was abandoned.
They were seen getting into a car outside Ael’s fan club and attempting to flee the scene, with a metal bar having been found in the vehicle.
All four appeared in court on Tuesday and were all remanded in custody for seven days.
An additional three people have been identified but not yet arrested, while police are looking for a further 31 people in connection with the incidents.
Sunday evening had been marred by violent scenes inside and outside Limassol’s Alphamega Stadium, with a large number of fans without tickets having entered the stadium.
Flares were then lit in the stands and Molotov cocktails were found by police, who then called for everyone inside the stadium to leave and be rechecked for tickets and banned items.
However, the fans refused to leave the stadium, and the match was abandoned.
Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis on Tuesday called on football clubs to isolate what he referred to as “100, 500 or even 1,000 mindless thugs”, adding that those responsible for the incidents “fired flares at people who were simply doing their jobs”.
He also criticised the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) for not “taking further action” in advance of the fixture, adding that the government had been urging them to take measures but had not seen sufficient determination to this end.
“The solution does not lie in increased policing but in stricter laws that allow the state to intervene where the association cannot. These include harsher penalties and point deductions for teams, measures which have not been implemented to avoid upsetting the clubs,” he said.
The violent scenes occurred on just the third week in which away fans were allowed back into football stadiums after having been banned following previous violence earlier in the year.
The CFA had announced in advance of the new season last month that only 800 away fans will be allowed to attend “high-risk” football matches, including those of both Ael and Apollon, among other clubs.
The announcement came shortly after tensions initally rose between the CFA and the police after the former unilaterally decided in July to allow away fans to attend games again.
Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis had reportedly been in favour of the ban being extended into the new season, but the CFA’s board of directors was unanimous in its decision.
Away fans had been banned from all competitive football matches in January after a firecracker launched from a stand hit a player in the head during a Coca Cola Cup match between Nea Salamina and Apoel, with the player, Giorgos Papageorgiou, reportedly suffered damaged hearing as a result of the incident.
Just days later in January, another Limassol derby had been cancelled due to violence inside and outside the Alphamega Stadium, with fireworks and flares being thrown between opposing sets of fans, and Ael fans invading the pitch.
A 34-year-old man on Tuesday evening became the fifth person to be arrested in connection with violent episodes which broke out at the abandoned Limassol derby between Ael and Apollon on Sunday.
He was arrested shortly after 8pm, with a 21-year-old, an 18-year-old, and two 17-year-olds having already been arrested after the match was abandoned.
They were seen getting into a car outside Ael’s fan club and attempting to flee the scene, with a metal bar having been found in the vehicle.
An additional three people have been identified but not yet arrested, while police are looking for a further 31 people in connection with the incidents.
Sunday evening had been marred by violent scenes inside and outside Limassol’s Alphamega Stadium, with a large number of fans without tickets having entered the stadium.
Flares were then lit in the stands and Molotov cocktails were found by police, who then called for everyone inside the stadium to leave and be rechecked for tickets and banned items.
However, the fans refused to leave the stadium, and the match was abandoned.
Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis on Tuesday called on football clubs to isolate what he referred to as “100, 500 or even 1,000 mindless thugs”, adding that those responsible for the incidents “fired flares at people who were simply doing their jobs”.
He also criticised the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) for not “taking further action” in advance of the fixture, adding that the government had been urging them to take measures but had not seen sufficient determination to this end.
“The solution does not lie in increased policing but in stricter laws that allow the state to intervene where the association cannot. These include harsher penalties and point deductions for teams, measures which have not been implemented to avoid upsetting the clubs,” he said.
The violent scenes occurred on just the third week in which away fans were allowed back into football stadiums after having been banned following previous violence earlier in the year.
The CFA had announced in advance of the new season last month that only 800 away fans will be allowed to attend “high-risk” football matches, including those of both Ael and Apollon, among other clubs.
The announcement came shortly after tensions initally rose between the CFA and the police after the former unilaterally decided in July to allow away fans to attend games again.
Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis had reportedly been in favour of the ban being extended into the new season, but the CFA’s board of directors was unanimous in its decision.
Away fans had been banned from all competitive football matches in January after a firecracker launched from a stand hit a player in the head during a Coca Cola Cup match between Nea Salamina and Apoel, with the player, Giorgos Papageorgiou, reportedly suffered damaged hearing as a result of the incident.
Just days later in January, another Limassol derby had been cancelled due to violence inside and outside the Alphamega Stadium, with fireworks and flares being thrown between opposing sets of fans, and Ael fans invading the pitch.