For Sunday’s (Nov. 1, 7:00 p.m.) match against Omonia Aradippou, as part of the eighth matchday of the Cyprus League by Stoiximan, regarding the appeal to overturn the ban on fan travel for the “eternal” derby, regarding Savvas Liasis’s investment group, as well as matters concerning APOEL, in statements he gave to SuperSport 104.
Regarding the trip to the “Arena,” the “blue-and-yellows’” press officer noted that the players are returning to training today (10/30), as they had Thursday off.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
He continued, responding to Nikola Leventis’s criticism regarding the Judicial Committee’s decision to issue a statement announcing its rulings last Monday, explaining that the Nicosia team immediately issued an apology.
He also emphasized that the reason the two fans were on the field at “Stelios Kyriakides Stadium” was to fold up a banner referring to a fan of the team who had died of cancer
Finally, he expressed optimism regarding the matter of Savvas Liasis and the investment plan, revealing that the final draft of the agreement is expected to be finalized within the next 24 hours and will be submitted to the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) and then to UEFA for approval.
Here are his comments in detail:
On the match against Omonia Aradippou: “We’re returning to training today, because the players had the day off yesterday after the cup game. The coach managed the roster, and as he himself said, the goal was to secure qualification, give players playing time, and avoid injuries. Thank God we achieved all three. Now we’re focusing on Sunday’s game.”
On the match: “It’s a very difficult game, as cliché as that may sound. Even when you’re considered the favorite, it’s not easy in practice. Omonia Aradippou is a serious team; they’ve made the right choices in terms of players and coach, and as you know, these kinds of matches provide very strong motivation. We’re taking all of that into account. It’s a matchday where we have two reasons to want the win. If we manage to secure a victory while the four teams at the top are playing each other, we’ll be able to close the gap. Carillo is the only question mark among the players whose availability is uncertain.”
On fan attendance: “Omonia Aradippou has allocated more than 10% of the tickets to which we are entitled. We’ve sold out all the tickets, so there’s no possibility of additional tickets.”
On Georgios’s hat trick: “It also vindicates the coach’s decision to insist on not adding another forward to the roster, especially with Pieros’s return on the horizon. Stavros has shown, both in the younger age groups and during his loan stint, that he has a knack for scoring. The older he gets, the better he’ll become. Special mention must also be made of the other players who scored, as we had goals scored by Cypriot players in the cup match.”
Regarding APOEL’s improvement in many areas, but the fact that they’re conceding goals: “Every game is different. In the cup match, we fielded 11 different players compared to the league match. In the two plays where we conceded goals, it was a completely incorrect assessment by Garcia of how the ball would bounce. As for the second goal, it resulted from poor positioning by our defense, and I’d call it an easy goal. But the two situations aren’t comparable. Right now, the most important thing is that players who were considered somewhat sidelined—such as Garcia, for example—have started getting playing time and have become important options for the coach, and that’s very important.”.
Regarding the appeal to overturn the ban on fan travel for the derby against Omonia: “Unfortunately, I have to address the legal issue more generally because we’ve heard some statements from AEL that aren’t accurate. I can, however, understand AEL’s repeated references to APOEL’s name. I must say that I heard some rather interesting things—namely, that they knew when the judicial committee would meet. We immediately filed a defense. As for the appeal, yes, we will proceed because the indictment refers to our fans entering the stadium. Specifically, this charge—at a stadium like Pafos Stadium, where two of our fans entered the field to unfurl a banner commemorating one of our supporters who died of cancer. I have no way of knowing when the Court of Appeals will convene.”
Regarding the matter with Savvas Liasis: “We hope that the coming days will be very important. The club has announced a preliminary agreement with the investment group regarding the management arrangement between the club and the new company. The company’s discussions with the investment group are based on two agreements. The investment group did the difficult and painstaking work: the documents were received, analyzed, and the points requiring change were identified to reach an agreement acceptable to both UEFA and the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). Over the past 48 hours, there have been lengthy meetings and discussions; common ground has been found, and we expect the final texts to be finalized within the next 24 hours. Both sides want to sign an agreement that will be submitted to the Cyprus Football Association (CFA), and from there it will be sent to UEFA for approval.”
