Clashes, arrests, and injuries—including those sustained by a police officer and a 10-year-old girl—were the outcome of yesterday’s APOEL-AEL match. The little girl was struck in the head by a battery thrown from the opposing team’s stands. 

READ ALSO: How the 10-year-old girl was injured at GSP Stadium: A recap of the incidents during the APOEL-AEL derby |

AlphaNews“He left his seat, went to where the stands coordinator was standing, took some batteries, and headed toward the west stands, threw them toward the west stands—they landed as far as Section 109, where families and children usually sit. Both she and her father were in a state of shock.”
_{Michalis Herodotus – Head of the Office for the Prevention and Response to Sports Violence}

Using closed-circuit surveillance footage, the police located the perpetrator and proceeded to arrest him as he was leaving the stadium. During entry checks, the police arrested another individual for possession of a flare and barred two fans from entering for damaging a metal fence. These incidents have reignited the debate over stadium safety. What happened—or rather, what didn’t happen—means we’re back to square one

.”Yesterday, there was a large distance between the two opposing stands. The AEL fans were in the center of the stand, and you can see that in your footage. To the right and left there were dividing railings; there were stewards; and there were police on the other sides.”
_{Michalis Herodotus – Head of the Office for the Prevention and Response to Sports Violence}

And in the background lies the festering issue of stadium licensing. “Two

were licensed immediately.The rest presented some problems; some undertook improvement projects. We—the licensing authority—focused primarily on closed-circuit television systems but also on other issues.”
<sub>Michalis Herodotus – Head of the Office for the Prevention and Response to Sports

Violence“</sub>All venues currently have a satisfactory level of CCTV system operation that allows matches to be held. This does not mean, however, that we have met the minimum standards that were set. To reach that point, a specific timeline has been established, and the stadiums have committed to following it.”
<sub>Yiannos Poubouris – Member of the Stadium

Licensing Authority</sub> “All stadiums were required to have electronic entry systems. Electronic ticket verification isn’t done through fixed systems, but rather with handheld scanners. Those scanners work sometimes and don’t work other times.”
_{Michalis Herodotos – Head of the Office for the Prevention and Response to Sports Violence}

All of this is happening while the bill submitted to the Legal Affairs Committee on the prevention of violence in stadiums has been put on hold, due to disagreements among the parties involved.

Watch the report by Nasia Ioannou: