Filenews 14 May 2025 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
The debts of football clubs to the Tax Department remain pending, despite the fact that some of them have paid part of the new debts they created after May 2023, while others have pledged to pay them soon.
Although the deadline given by the Department of Taxation for the repayment of these debts has long passed, neither this Department nor the Ministry of Finance have taken a decision on their next steps, resulting in the issue being pending.
Confusion
It is found that there is a stalemate in decision-making, as it has not been clarified who should take the decision for the treatment of these debtor associations. As it seems, the Department of Taxation is waiting for an initiative from the Ministry of Finance and the Council of Ministers, while the Minister of Finance is asking the Tax Commissioner to implement the legislation as it applies it to all citizens and businesses.
The Minister of Finance, Makis Keravnos, has stated many times publicly that the Tax Commissioner handles the matter dutifully and therefore should take the relevant decisions, on the basis of the legislation. On the other hand, the Department of Taxation considers that the decision for the reintegration of the specific unions – companies (APOEL, Apollon, Anorthosis, AEL) in the debt repayment plan is the responsibility of the Council of Ministers. It is recalled that APOEL created new debts (after the 2023 plan) of €1.8 million, AEL €1.6 million, Apollon €1.3 million and Anorthosis €650,000.
A few days ago, APOEL paid €700,000 with the commitment that it will pay another €200,000 soon, while Apollon and Anorthosis have paid about 50% of these debts.
On the other hand, AEL has committed to repay all the new debts as well as the older debts. ARIS and Paphos pledged to do the same, awaiting the relevant decisions from the Council of Ministers in relation to the tax deductions that will be granted to them. It is estimated that with the full repayment of the three clubs and the repayment of part of the debts of the others, the state will put around €4.5 million in its coffers.
What happened
As "F" is informed, the Commissioner of Taxation, Sotiris Markidis, sent a note to the Minister of Finance about two weeks ago, informing him about the developments (the partial repayment of debt and the commitments of other unions for full repayment). In fact, there is information that Mr. Markidis proposes the reintegration of APOEL, Anorthosis and Apollon in the repayment plan, from which they were removed due to their non-compliance.
As we are informed, the amount of the instalments of these clubs in case of their reintegration into the plan will be adjusted. On the other hand, sources from the Ministry of Finance said that the Minister of Finance gave explicit instructions to the Superintendent on how to handle the issue. At the same time, they claim that the unions are negotiating with the Registrar. As we were told, the ministry received the relevant note, with the minister instructing the Registrar to make decisions in accordance with the law and with commitment to equality, as he does with the rest of the taxpayers.
What the Presidential Palace says
Other information, from the Presidential Office, states that instructions were given to the Minister of Finance for the preparation of a note with the new data that emerged and with his proposals for handling the issue.
It has not been clarified, as we have been told, whether the Council of Ministers or the Registrar should take the decision on whether or not to reintegrate the teams into the plan, as this is not clearly included in the provisions of the plan.
However, in May 2023, when amending the Plan, the Council of Ministers had taken the decision, including in the plan debts of associations from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2023, as well as previous debts. The payment was planned to be made in 168 monthly instalments and in case of non-payment of even one instalment, the unions would be expelled from the plan. And so it happened. However, without following all the procedures provided for in the plan.
The provisions of the plan
According to the plan approved in May 2023, companies that do not meet their obligations will be excluded from the plan and all debts to the Tax Department will become immediately payable. In case any club is excluded (expelled) from the plan, any sponsorships it receives/is entitled to will be counted against its debts to the state.
In addition, the 2023 plan states, the clubs that do not meet their obligations will be referred to the Judicial Committee of the CFA, following a request from the Plan Monitoring Committee to the federation, for the imposition of an immediate ban on transfers, until the full payment of their debts!
At the same time, there is a provision in the plan that a club that does not implement the payment plan will be named in the letter that will be given to the CFA as a certificate for the implementation of the agreements in the plan, so that it cannot be considered to meet the relevant UEFA criteria, which leads, among other things, to the deduction of points.
As the draft states, in the event of a dispute over the implementation of the plan or procedural issues, the dispute will be resolved between the CFA and the Ministry of Finance. Finally, it is emphasized that in case of non-resolution of the dispute, the decision of the Minister of Finance will be binding on both parties after 30 days from the day the dispute arises. It is obvious that none of what was foreseen in the plan in case of its non-implementation by unions was done.
