Filenews 19 July 2024 - by Michalis Hadjivassillis
In the same play viewers for another year. Football stadiums, or stadiums for sporting events, are used without having the necessary permits or safety certificates.
Although the new football season 2024-25 starts soon, while friendlies have already begun, the situation with some stadiums is tragic, however, with the tolerance of the CFA and other services, thousands of people will gather, while the premises will not have the necessary permits.
"F" reports that only four out of ten open football stadiums have operating licenses and a safety certificate, while the rest do not. The situation with indoor stadiums is even worse, since only one of the approximately 20 that operate holds the necessary permits.
The Stadium Licensing Authority has inspected the stadiums and issued the necessary safety and operational certificates for the following stadiums: GSP, AEK Arena, Alpha Mega Stadium and Stelios Kyriakides in Paphos. The remaining six stadiums do not have permits because they apparently do not meet the criteria and it is unknown what will happen. As every year, the Authority is forced to give licenses to other stadiums provided that they meet certain conditions, such as the installation of a new monitoring system for fan identification, etc.
Of the indoor stadiums, only the one of the University of Cyprus meets the specifications and has secured the relevant licenses.
Regarding "Makario", which along with "Stelios Kyriakides" belongs to the CSO, a letter has been sent that it is not interested in securing the relevant licenses, since no football matches will be held.
The Police have already sounded the alarm about the situation with the open and closed stadiums that is perpetuated and although last year decisions were taken at a meeting at the Presidential Palace to combat violence in stadiums, however, nothing has changed.
Incidentally, it is mentioned that at a meeting in March 2023, following violent incidents by fans and police in the semi-final of the Greek Cup between Anorthosis and Apollon, the measures taken included the implementation of a strict timetable for the installation of closed circuit surveillance systems at all stages where today the necessary standards by law are not met. It was also decided to amend the legislation so that closed-circuit surveillance systems will be installed in all stadiums where first-class matches are held, regardless of capacity, within specific timetables to be determined in consultation with all stakeholders. The aim was to implement the fan card measure more effectively.
None of this has happened, although the CMO is ready from next September to implement fan card identification.
There is also an open issue on the issue of the movement of fans. The Minister of Justice, Marios Hartsiotis, opposes the movement of fans from the beginning of the season, with the CFA reacting. In a recent meeting between the minister and CFA president George Koumas, the reasons why the Police and by extension the Ministry of Justice do not consent to the movement of fans were discussed, with the CFA reserving its response after examining the issue with the clubs. The clubs, for their part, are in favour of moving fans of the away team both for revenue reasons and to support their team.
The CFA has already stated in its announcement for the 2024-2025 football season that the movement of fans equal to 10% of seats applies. This also applies to friendly games currently taking place.
However, this month we count incidents in two friendlies and the championship has not yet started.
