“Red card” to the football establishment – Article by AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou

 

 

Sunday 18 June 2023, HARAVGI newspaper

Corruption in football is undoubtedly an open wound for our country. For decades, the cleaning up of football has been a demand of society, of football fans and clubs, which have also lodged official complaints. Even the former President of the Republic of Cyprus was forced to admit the presence of criminal elements in Cypriot football and pledged that his government would take steps to ‘tighten controls’. But nothing was done!

As AKEL, we have been warning for years that corruption in Cypriot football shames our country. We have been struggling calling on the government to show tangible evidence of its much-touted will to stamp out corruption in football. We resembled a voice crying out in the wilderness….

So we have been forced to take more drastic measures. As AKEL, we denounced several cases of illegal betting activity worth millions, for which police operations were carried out in 2016 and evidence was collected, which again, unfortunately, were handled in a scandalous manner and in practice covered up!

Not only did we not give up, but as AKEL we also proceeded to submit eight specific actions and proposals for the cleaning up Cypriot football. One of these was for the AKEL delegation in the European Parliament to carry out a scientific survey to record the pathologies in the structures of Cypriot football. Our research, which was presented in September 2022, examines corruption in football, focusing on Cypriot football, and proposes solutions to address this phenomenon. Unfortunately, the authorities have put the whole issue in their drawer, postponing it indefinitely. They did not, however, take into account subsequent developments….

The revelations about corruption in football that are now coming to light confirm AKEL’s warnings and the importance of the struggle to put an end to corruption in football. Among other things, it has been revealed that the Cyprus Football Federation was hiding files and “Everyone covered for Anastasiades and he wanted me to do the same. Basically, he wanted to stop an investigation”, as the former chairman of the Sports Ethics Committee Andreas Papacharalambous revealed characteristically.

The dozens of “red files” that arrived over the years were either not investigated or ended up nowhere. The legitimate questions we have been asking about the serving of political expediencies in relation to what has not been done and what is being done, on purpose, by the authorities, are therefore raised once again.

From 2011 to date, 96 “red files” on match-fixing have been forwarded to the police. However, in only three cases was evidence found that led to persons being brought to court, while the sentences imposed were lenient, despite the seriousness of the cases. Furthermore, according to police data, 91 notices of intense gambling activity have been sent out since 2021 to date. But the policy of burying one’s head in the sand continued.

However, the presence of the former secretary of the Ethics and Sports Protection Committee, Haris Savvides, in Parliament shook society to its core. As he revealed, when the Cyprus Football Federation denied the existence of any “red file” over a period stretching 18 months, a UEFA report for the same period (1/1/2019 – summer 2020) showed 16 such cases. Indeed, it referred to a possible cover-up ring, as UEFA was acting in a supportive manner towards the Cyprus Football Federation.

With these new facts, AKEL will not permit corruption and non-transparency in the “red files” to continue. That is why it immediately proceeded to submit a draft bill in the Cypriot Parliament, which aims precisely at combating corruption and strengthening transparency.

At the same time, we are continuing the fight against corruption in the European Parliament as well. Corruption in European football and the need for transparency in sport are among the priorities of the European Parliament and especially of the Group of the European United Left GUE/NGL.

As the Left, we are showing a red card to corruption and the established order in European and Cypriot football. Our aim was and remains the cleansing of football. We are already behind schedule. But we will not allow the struggle to end to the detriment of society and sport!