Filenews 28 May 2025 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
Finally, he enters the serial with the debts of the football clubs, to the Tax Department and to the Social Insurance Fund. After the uproar of the last few days, with the statements and counter-statements of the bodies involved, but also the unorthodox way in which the teams received the green light from the Cyprus Football Federation (CFA) in relation to UEFA's March criteria, it is expected that four of those that had been removed will be reinstated in the debt repayment plan.
According to information from "F", in the coming days, the Commissioner of Taxation Sotiris Markidis, after receiving the green light from both the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides and the Minister of Finance Makis Keravnos, is expected to re-include APOEL, Apollon, Anorthosis and Ethnikos Achnas in the plan. So far, the state has collected an amount of €2 million from the clubs concerning part of the new tax debts of €5.3 million that they created. Specifically, APOEL paid €700,000 of the additional tax debts created, Apollon and Anorthosis have paid 40% to 50% of their new debts, which are calculated at €1 million. Ethnikos Achnas will have to repay debts of tens of thousands of euros. It is recalled that APOEL created new debts of €1.8 million, Apollon €1.3 million, Anorthosis €650,000 and Ethnikos Achnas €100,000. These debts are in addition to the previous tax debts in addition to the €25 million accumulated by the majority of football clubs.
Instalments will be adjusted
The Registrar had already proposed the reinstatement of the four unions with two letters that he had forwarded in April and May to the Minister of Finance, Makis Keravnos. As "F" is informed, officials of the Tax Department will proceed with an adjustment of the amount of instalments for the specific companies. Specifically, of the 168 instalments provided for in the May 2023 plan, there are around 135 instalments left in which both the remainder of the new debts they created and the older ones will be included. Therefore, with these data, the amount of instalments paid by the four groups will increase. A competent source said that the plan will be strictly monitored. In fact, in case the teams do not comply with the provisions of the plan, that is, they do not pay three instalments, then they will be automatically deducted from the plan and at the same time interest and charges that have been frozen due to their participation in the plan will be added to their debts. At the same time, a lot of money will also flow into the state coffers from the increase of the betting tax to 5% paid by betting service providers from the beginning of the year. In the first two months of the year, the state collected around €1 million, an amount that is increased by 80% compared to the previous year. With the re-inclusion of the teams in the plan, they no longer seem to face any problems in relation to the June criteria, which should be forwarded to UEFA at the end of next month. Also, if they continue to comply, the indictments will not be activated, nor will the tax collection measures by the Tax Department, which provide for the placement of MEMO on the properties and the freezing of the bank accounts of football teams. It is worth noting that Paphos, Aris and the AEL club will pay all their tax debts, receiving the required tax deductions.
Interventions to the Presidential Palace and parties
However, in the last few hours there have been intense behind-the-scenes consultations and interventions by the groups, parties and the CFA, towards the Presidential Palace. And this is due to the government's failure to take a decision, which was throwing the ball to the Tax Commissioner to decide what was to happen. Some argue that the involvement in decision-making was due to the government's avoidance of assuming the political cost. There are, of course, opinions that the time credit given to the teams that had to repay their debts by the end of 2024 until they collected the money (which they did not do) is interpreted as tolerance. It should be noted that some argue that with the new opportunity given to the teams, not all taxpayers are treated equally.
They threw the ball to the Tax Commissioner
Yesterday early in the morning, the President of the Republic, the Minister of Finance and the government spokesman gave their own explanations. The President of the Republic had stated that according to the law, the Registrar is responsible for the reintegration of the associations into the plan, stressing that those of them who settle the instalments will be able to continue to participate in the plan. The minister had called on the Tax Department to proceed with arrangements for the unions to be included in the plan. For his part, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that a process is underway that can definitively resolve the problem of debts, which, as he recalled, may start from the 90s.
