Filenews 6 August 2025 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
An amount of €7.5 million was spent by the state on policing football matches during the five-year period 2019-2023, 81 of which were classified as high-risk.
According to data cited by the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Marios Hartsiotis, the largest amount of €2.7 million was spent on policing 18 matches in 2023 which were judged to be high-risk.
The Minister of Justice was responding to a question by the MP of the Famagusta constituency, Mr. Nikos Georgiou, dated February 1, 2024, according to which "violence in the stadiums is fought through the faithful application of the law, with the repression of any illegal activity by the police authorities, the arrest of the perpetrators and the bringing of the perpetrators to justice".
As Mr. Hartsiotis mentions, the total cost of policing for sports events in the last five years is borne exclusively by the state and not by the teams that have the revenues from the games.
According to the data, in 2019 €1,242,971 was spent on policing football matches, in 2020 €948,894, in 2021 the amount amounted to €802,099, in 2022 €1,706,525 and in 2023 €2,708,386.
A total of €7,408,875 was spent in the five-year period 2019-2023 for the policing of football matches, including 81 that were judged to be high-risk.
Also, from the data cited by the Minister of Justice, it appears that from 2017 to 2024, the Police made 230 arrests of fans for cases of violence in the stadiums.
Specifically, in 2017 there were 38 arrests in 5 serious cases and 14 minor violations. In the same year, 19 cases were registered in the courts, while 28 exclusion decrees were issued from the stadiums. There were also 33 convictions of fans for violating the law to combat violence in stadiums, while 21 matches were judged to be high-risk.
In the 2018 football season, there were 18 arrests of fans for 10 cases registered with the Court, while 18 decrees were issued excluding persons from sports venues. There were 16 convictions, while six matches were considered high-risk.
In the 2018-19 football season, the Police arrested 22 people for violence in the stadiums, seven cases were registered in the Courts and 16 court orders were issued to exclude them from the stadiums. There were also 19 convictions, while four matches were judged to be high-risk.
In the 2019-20 season, i.e. the year of the coronavirus, 11 arrests of fans were made, five cases were registered in the courts, while nine decrees were issued to exclude persons from the stadiums, while there were also 10 convictions. There were only two high-risk matches.
In the period 2020-21, also the year of covid-19, no arrests were made, while two serious cases of violence in the stadiums registered with the Court were investigated.
The following year, i.e. in 2021-22, 25 arrests were made, 17 cases registered in the Courts were examined, and 14 stadium exclusion orders were issued. Also, 18 matches were judged to be high-risk.
The 2022-23 football season is the worst in eight years, after 58 people were arrested for 34 cases of violence, of which 29 were registered in the Courts, five are under investigation, 51 exclusion decrees from the stadiums were issued, while 32 matches were judged to be high-risk.
In 2023-24, 58 arrests were made for 25 cases, of which 20 were registered in the Courts and five are being investigated. Also, 40 fans were excluded from sports venues by court orders, while 18 matches were judged to be high risk during the season.
As noted, the application of the fan card began on 01/01/2018. The beginning of the C0VID19 pandemic, with the restrictive measures for the absence of fans, began on 10/03/2020 and lasted until the end of the 2021 season.
In his reply, Mr. Hartsiotis emphasizes that in addition to the court, the Stadium Security Officer, the club and the relevant Federation have the power under the legislation (Article 73C) to impose a ban on entering sports venues. "Unfortunately, apart from one union, none of the above has imposed such a ban despite the power it has. It is noted that the Chief of Police does not have such power," the Minister of Justice concludes.
