A catapult report of the Audit Office of the Republic on the Cyprus Sports Organization and the control it exercises over sports Federations, has been published.
The audit of the competent service of the Republic covers the period between 2024 and August 2025, highlighting that the CSO in essence does not effectively exercise control over the sports bodies it subsidizes, does not keep a register of complaints made and is generally unable to supervise the Federations and impose compliance measures on them.
Perhaps the most typical example of the results of the audit endorsed by the Auditor General of the Republic, Andreas Papaconstantinou, is the obligation of the Federations to submit audited financial statements.
According to data cited in the report, in September 2024, when the relevant deadline expired, 78 out of 85 Federations had not taken care to submit their financial statements for 2023 to the CSO. Nevertheless, the CSO did not impose any penalty on the inconsistent Federations.
The CSO said otherwise
In addition, it is implied that the CMO misinformed the Audit Office. Indicatively, it is noted that while 8.2% of all Federations failed to submit their financial statements within the schedule, there was no impact on them.
And it is added to the conclusions of the audit: "It was found that no penalties were imposed on those who did not comply with the submission schedule, as there was no such provision in the Grant Release Guide for the year 2024. However, as the CSO informed us in the reply letter of the date. 13.3.2026, no Federation is subsidized if it has not submitted the financial statements of the previous financial year".
A negative example is the KOP
The report, although it contains mild references and is balanced, nevertheless solemnly refutes the Cyprus Football Federation's self-governance, stressing that there is not even a balanced supervision framework in relation to the highest authority of the most popular sport.
The Audit Office presents the KOP as the most indicative negative example of "lack of adequate accountability" and dedicates several lines to it within a gray framework to overemphasize its remarks.
Deconstructing the positions on self-governance, the Audit Office points out: "As an Agency, we recognize that the Cyprus Football Federation operates within the framework of autonomy due to obligations to FIFA and UEFA and this framework should be maintained. However, we generally believe that there is a misunderstood interpretation of the terms "independence" and "control/accountability" which leads to the mistaken impression that the two (independence and control) cannot coexist to some extent."
Before the Audit Office came up with the above report, it listed the benefits of the state to the Football Federation:
>> The relationship between the state and the CFA (and especially football clubs) is characterized as multi-level.
>> The state supports football clubs such as club funding,
>> financing from betting revenues, financing of state sports facilities
>> provision of sports facilities, special sponsorships for refugee clubs.
>> In addition, in addition to the financial aspect, the state systematically provides services related to the clubs, e.g. policing of football matches, which means a public financial burden but also the commitment of significant human resources which could be used in the multiple other needs of the state.
>> In addition, the accumulation of tax and other debts of football clubs and companies to the state over time, as well as the repeated implementation of repayment plans or other facilities, demonstrate the existence of issues that go beyond the narrow limits of sports governance and directly affect public finances.
Of course, the report does not overlook the fact that the "state has economic benefits due to football, from tax revenues, betting revenues, tourism and promotion of the country, development of sports through academies". However, it is added that "Given this multi-level relationship, in our opinion, the issue of the adequacy of the existing control and accountability framework arises".
Politicized
For the situation in football, the Audit Office blames the state and the long-standing relationship of political figures with the sport. There is clear talk of the "politicization of football", which, however, "intensifies the need to adopt enhanced safeguards".
Regarding the KOP, he concludes by noting that "all stakeholders, recognizing the new requirements of society for transparency, accountability and good administration, are required to review the implementation of a new modernized framework of good administration where on the one hand the independence of the federations is ensured (when required by international federations) and on the other hand there is respect and alignment with national priorities and strategies for the development and promotion of sports and at the same time to strengthen public trust".
The three Federations
Cases of at least three Federations are also recorded, for which it emerged:
>> Existence of corruption phenomena, such as conflict of interest of the president of a sports body, alleged incompatibility, exploitation of athletes and state property, but also irregular participation of expelled clubs in a General Assembly of the Federation.
In fact, as detailed is stated, although the Sports Ethics and Protection Committee conducted investigations into the aforementioned phenomena, in fact, in one case with the intervention of the CSO itself, there was no determination to take action to prevent the existence of negative phenomena.
There is also talk of other phenomena, such as the inability of the Federations to control the competition and the absence of criteria for grants
There is also a reference to the prolonged vacancy in the position of the General Director of the CSO, which "may have created gaps in the management of the Organization, affecting its proper operation".
