Filenews 27 August 2024 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
The increase in betting tax will help pay off the debts of football clubs, which owe the state around €37 million. for tax and social security debts.
Under the bill pending before the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, when approved, the percentage of net earnings from betting paid by the Cyprus Sports Organisation (CSO) to the Cyprus Football Federation (CFA) and football clubs will be increased from 1.5% to 3%, money which will be used to pay off the clubs' debts to the state.
Following the publication of "F" newspaper about the new indulgence given by the government to football clubs/companies, which proceeded to issue an exceptional certificate to football teams, so that they can participate without problems in the Cypriot championship, but also in European competitions, the Minister of Finance Makis Keravnos intervened on the issue.
Speaking to ANT1, he referred to the bill approved by the Council of Ministers, with which there will be a small, as he said, increase in the tax on betting.
There will be no other plan
According to the finance minister, the proceeds will be used to pay off debts owed by football clubs, to avoid them getting into trouble. "The revenue will be received by the state. It is an effort in the right direction if we want to have football teams and if we want our teams to participate in European championships etc."
At the same time, he indicated that from the increase in the betting tax, there will be a significant inflow of revenue, which, as he explained, will be used to pay off debts.
However, Mr. Keravnos gave an ultimatum to the clubs, stressing that with the full repayment of the debts of football clubs/companies there will be no more state plans to repay the debts.
As he said, unions should be consistent with their obligations. It is worth noting that before the relevant bill for an increase in the tax on betting is submitted for approval, it will be notified to the European Commission to see if it complies with the European directive.
The tree and the forest
However, the exceptional certificate given to the unions caused strong reactions in various circles, as some believe the state did not do the same for other cases of companies that have tax and social security debts.
As the Minister of Finance said, over time there have been many plans with football clubs, giving them many extensions of debt repayment and differentiation of schedules.
He noted that previous plans failed as there was no response from the unions, adding that in some cases it was objectively difficult to get a response from the parties involved.
"We have to look at the issue as a whole, we should not only see the tree, but the forest and the forest is the existence of a number of football teams participating in the leagues, in the European championships, etc. If we want this forest to exist in this place, we have to look at it from the overall approach."
It is recalled that according to the Audit Office, 14 unions/companies out of 19 had created additional debts of €4.8 million. Of those, five had not paid a single instalment to the state as of May 2023.
