Filenews 24 May 2025 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
The Cyprus Football Federation (CFA) has given the coveted ticket to the football clubs to compete without any problems in the 2025-2026 football season, inside and outside Cyprus.
Despite the fact that many companies have not fully repaid their tax debts, amounting to €5.3 million, that they have created since May 2023 (total debts of €25.6 million) and while football players have been brought to justice for debts to social security, the CFA completed the process of checking UEFA criteria for the licensing of clubs, deciding yesterday that all clubs have passed the criteria - without the football clubs having secured the official certificates from the State, as until late yesterday afternoon nothing had been sent to them by the Ministry of Finance.
The CFA, relying only on the evidence provided by the football clubs for the amount of debts they have paid to the Tax Department and to Social Insurance, decided and ruled that the teams meet UEFA's criteria. According to UEFA regulations, the deadline for submission of teams to participate in European competitions is May 31. The chairman of the Primary Committee of the CFA, Christakis Christofides, despite repeated efforts, did not receive any official response from the competent authorities regarding the debts of the teams to the state.
Debts are increasing
As "F" is informed by a competent source, the teams, despite the pressure of the Tax Department, paid something small to the state, only €2 million, while they made promises for the rest. Unravelling in this way and putting an end to the anxiety.
As "F" is informed, the Commissioner of Taxation has forwarded to the Director General of the ministry a list of the amount of debts that the teams have paid, the commitments they have given for the payment of their debts as well as the plan they propose. On the part of the ministry, it is claimed that this letter has been sent to the CFA, which in turn claims that it did not receive it.
According to a competent source, APOEL, Apollonas, Anorthosis and Ethnikos Achnas are not considered to be tax-compliant entities. As we were told, APOEL paid €700,000 from €1.8 million, Apollon and Anorthosis paid 50%, i.e. around €1 million. and a few tens of euros were paid by Ethnikos Achnas.
On the other hand, Paphos, Aris and AEL are considered tax compliant, as they are awaiting the approval of the Council of Ministers for the discounts they request, as they will fully repay their debts (new and old).
In fact, Paphos has also sent a relevant cheque to the Tax Department, while Aris yesterday submitted some additional information that was requested from them. The AEL club has paid half of the debts and will make a loan to pay off the rest next month. These groups expected the state to inform them about the amount of debts they will eventually pay, as interest and charges will be written off, as is done with other taxpayers.
The indictments are "running"
However, due to the misunderstanding of the state authorities, the CFA may have saved the clubs from the test of the criteria yesterday, but the series does not stop there. As we have been told, the State will demand to take the debts. In fact, many teams are out of the debt repayment plan and therefore a decision will have to be made to reintegrate or not.
Therefore, some current and former football executives (including current and former ministers, MPs, MEPs and mayors) who served on the teams' councils will continue to sit on burning coals, since, as a competent source said, the law will be implemented.
Specifically, the indictments of the Tax Department will be activated and those who have not paid will be taken to court.
The decision of the CFA causes great wonder, as it was essentially based only on the data of the teams. On the other hand, the government's stance also raises many questions, which, although it stated that it will treat all taxpayers equally and will not proceed with discounts, its apathetic attitude and the tolerance it showed satisfied and convenient the football clubs again.
The political cost and the debate in Parliament
Of great interest will be the scheduled debate on Monday in the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, at the request of DISY MPs, during which the CFA will develop the rationale for its decision and the justifications cited by the state authorities for the apathetic attitude they have observed.
It seems that some people were afraid of the political cost and chose to maintain an attitude of neutrality. UEFA's response will also be interesting in relation to the data that will be forwarded to it by the CFA, as these do not include the required tax compliance certificates from the state. Football circles, however, estimate that UEFA will be satisfied with the specific data of the CFA.
There are also estimates that after the new data, some MPs may want the issue not to be discussed in Parliament, since what they were interested in was UEFA's criteria. After yesterday's decision of the CFA to meet the criteria, it is likely that the discussion is considered by some to be meaningless. Something like this would provoke public opinion more, as citizens expect to be informed about the data.
