AEL’s press officer, Nikolas Leventis, made statements to “SPOR FM 95.0.”
He was initially critical of the failure to disclose the reasoning behind Kafou’s penalty, as well as of the Judicial Committee’s handling of the penalties before the deadline expired. The remark that really stood out was that… “it is one of the biggest scandals that the current CFF administration will have to bear.”
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He then spoke about the team’s performance, the loss to Aris, the upcoming derby against Omonia, and addressed the status of the injured players.
Here is what he said in detail:
Regarding the situation with Kafou, and whether they’ve been notified: “We’re in the dark; nothing has been sent to us. We’re waiting to see when it will be drafted and when they’ll send it to us. We were told from the start that they would be… busy. After 24 days, we haven’t received anything yet. Given how the CFF Judicial Committee operates, we all more or less expected a negative outcome. They should proceed with the hearing before the deadline given to us last Monday expires. This is one of the biggest scandals. It has nothing to do with APOEL’s penalties; it has to do with the institutions. The competitive process is being affected. Even the most uninformed fan realizes that when an institutional body goes so far as to irregularly expedite the process, it directly undermines fairness. We’re talking about a distortion of the competition schedule. We sent a letter that very same day. We’re asking them to explain why the standard procedure wasn’t followed.”
As for whether it was done intentionally: “The hearing certainly could not have taken place on Monday. Since the process for submitting the defense—which was provided to us in writing—was still underway. The timeline should have been completed. The question is whether this error occurred under the direction of the Judicial Committee or without its knowledge. A question I don’t think anyone will answer for us. We need to dig deeper into the institutions. It is one of the biggest scandals that the current CFF administration will have to bear. And when May comes, we’ll remind those who ask for our vote of all this. The time will come when the tables turn, and that’s when AEL will operate differently. We had the meeting with the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned before, some people are only there for the food. Some clubs took offense and even attacked me personally. It’s clear that they feel certain institutions are being targeted. We hope they’ll provide an explanation as to why the cases were heard before the deadline for submitting the defense had expired.”
On whether AEL has the support of other teams in this matter: “AEL always acts on its own when it believes justice is lacking. The other clubs should stop hiding and start speaking out for justice—for equality under the law and credibility. AEL speaks out without any vested interest, but it speaks out because these things are lacking. Should AEL be the only one to speak out? Doesn’t it bother anyone that the competition schedule has been altered? It seems they’re content with the current situation. AEL’s representative on the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) has nothing to do with this. Even if he were to step down, it wouldn’t change anything about how procedures are carried out. I’ll note this again: the cases were heard before the deadline for submitting the defense had expired. If the Judicial Committee had informed us earlier that the deadline was Sunday, we wouldn’t have said anything. This time, it happened without the clubs’ knowledge. Everyone can draw their own conclusions.”
On the game against Aris: “Aris’s victory was well-deserved; as a team, we failed to deliver what we needed to on the court, with the exception of a few brief moments. We need to address this. In the first half, we lacked energy and lost every one-on-one battle; our game plan didn’t work. Congratulations to Aris; we need to look ahead to our next match at GSP against a tough opponent like Omonia to fight for the win. It’s important that we correct our mistakes, and from the first minute to the last, the players must fight. We need to be able to hold our own for the full 90 minutes if we want to achieve something significant in the end. AEL has accumulated 15 points and is near the top of the standings. The margins are tight, but the team currently has 5 wins and 2 losses—a very good record, especially considering the on-field challenges we’ve faced. In the very next game, we have to be the ones to go for the win and prove to ourselves that we have a path ahead of us and can achieve something great.”
Regarding the fans: “We’re entitled to the 1,000 tickets—the number that’s always allocated. We’re close to a sellout. Our fans didn’t travel with us for the Omonia Aradippou game, and against Omonia, we want our full support behind us to help us.”
On the rivalry against Omonia: “We want a repeat of last year’s Cup result. Let’s be honest, we have a poor track record against Omonia. Traditions are meant to be broken. Let’s go out there and fight for the win. These are tough tests, and the team needs to show it can bounce back after a loss. We’re coming off a loss with a poor performance; it’s important to flip the switch.”
On Jovetić, who will face his former team: “It’s a special game for him; he enjoyed success with Omonia. Beyond that, he’s an experienced player and will handle the match well. He deserves a round of applause from the fans at GSP,”
On team news: “Bruno Almeida is back and training normally. Denswil has a second-degree biceps strain. He’s expected to return in a month. Zoke is following part of the regular training program. Both Antoniou and Gomes have held the team’s defensive line together well. Whoever is called upon to play must give it their all. We need to address the weaknesses we showed against Aris. Everyone will be called upon to play.”
On what’s next and the upcoming games: “The derby against Omonia is important; after that, we’ll focus on the Cup match. We shouldn’t be thinking about whether we’ll win. After that, we have matches where we need to get the full three points. For now, we’re focusing on the match against Omonia.”
