Time and the league break are APOEL’s main “tools” for improving their performance, following a difficult start and a series of derbies, as Nektarios Petevinos stated in an interview with “SuperSport 104.0.”
In Archangelos, they believe the team needs time to develop cohesion and showcase its true quality, while the team’s press officer also addressed the intense grumbling that has arisen since the first few matchdays.
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Nektarios Petevinos also addressed AEL’s statement regarding their match, noting the allegations of possible match-fixing and result manipulation, and emphasizing that once such issues were raised publicly, APOEL could not leave them unanswered.
At the same time, he referred to the financial procedures and the investor, which are in the final stages, while on the field, players are expected to return after the break.
The main points of what he said:
On the match against Apollon: “We started with back-to-back derbies, which made our job difficult since the team is still new and we couldn’t play the way we wanted to. The break is an ideal opportunity, especially for players who have joined us recently, to absorb what the coach wants and for us to improve as a team.”
On the grumbling and the poor results: “The grumbling started from the very first matchday. The question is when the team will play the kind of soccer it’s capable of so we can put an end to the grumbling. Time is what will help APOEL bring out the quality it has as a team.”
On the schedule and the increased competition: “It’s true that the draw didn’t help APOEL this year, as we had to play back-to-back derbies right at the start. We also had to adjust to the schedule change on November 8 against Aris.”
On Laifis and the absences: “Laifis is one of our best players, but he doesn’t play alone. We have players on defense. In fact, we also missed Dalsio’s absence, as he’s one of the players who knows these games very well.”
Regarding AEL’s statement: “In recent days, AEL has taken a very strong stance, but it did not mention anything beyond the incident it had the right to investigate. Since AEL is referring to possible match-fixing and manipulation of the result, we cannot let this stand. There is no controversial play; it is the one that was penalized. We at APOEL have nothing to fear from anyone. AEL is now called upon to clarify whether there was any third-party interference in the VAR protocol.”
On penalties and fairness: “The pre-match inspection is not being enforced in many cases, and in fact, there is the incident involving the battery and the injury to the minor—and there is a separate protocol in the pre-match inspection for that. We can’t talk about sanctions from the outset because if the sanctions were applied correctly, we’d be playing without fans. It can’t be portrayed to the outside world that APOEL is the one being favored in this matter.”
On refereeing and the presidents’ meeting: “We at APOEL have a clear stance: we do not discuss refereeing and we keep our distance. That doesn’t mean that those who don’t speak up aren’t in the right or don’t have anything to say. If we wanted to talk about refereeing, we would have done so from the very first matchday. In the first matchday, regarding the incident with Dalcio’s ejection in the game against AEL, all the decisions went against APOEL.”
On finances and the investor: “The processes are in the final stages, and two separate processes are underway that are moving in the same direction. Both are for the good of APOEL, and each piece of this puzzle has its own timeline. All parties are working through the challenges to ensure the best possible outcome for the team.”
On the team’s performance: “Mancini and Carillo will return after the break. Pieros is back on the field with the ball and is expected to be ready by mid-November.”
