The case of 15-year-old champion Panteleimon Papamichail raises serious concerns. Despite his athletic achievements and his enrollment at the Laniteio Athletic Junior High School, he was not granted a spot at the Athletic High School. His family cites administrative confusion and is demanding answers.

Christos Papamichail, the young athlete’s uncle, appeared as a guest on the “Alpha News” program and stated that the Ministry did not take Panteleimon’s victory in the race into account, even though in previous years, those who won that particular race were routinely granted admission to the sports high school.

He then raised a series of issues with the administration and the Ministry, citing a lack of coordination between the Federation and the relevant authorities. As he noted, the press office announced the results of the Pan-Cyprian competitions, while Laniteio High School, where the 15-year-old athlete attended, also publicized his first-place finish.

“When a certain practice is in place, how do you inform those directly involved (parents, coaches, and the schools themselves) that this competition will not be taken into account, so that they know that if they participate, they will be competing simply for the sake of participation?” was the central question posed by Panteleimon’s uncle.

“The Laniteio School told us that he couldn’t be admitted without giving us a reason, while the inspector wouldn’t give us a clear answer. This went on for three weeks,” he added. “We watched the video he made on his own, deeply moved, as he devoted many hours of his life to winning first place. We decided that this shouldn’t just end here—not only for Panteleimon, but for all the children,” he noted, pointing out at the end that the runner-up from last year’s competition was admitted to school as usual, while this year’s winner was not.

Also participating in the program was the Deputy Director of Secondary General Education, George Koutsidis, who stated that the distinction achieved by Panteleimon concerned a pan-Cypriot competition in his age group (those born in 2011), which, however, was optional.

As he explained, it was not a competition in which participation was mandatory for all athletes for the purposes of evaluation and selection. It was a competition organized by the Judo Federation on a voluntary basis.

“The mandatory competition in which the athletes were required to participate, according to the Federation’s official announcement, took place in February and also involved the U18 age group. The student participated in that event, recording a different result,” he noted.

Regarding the possibility of increasing the number of spots at the Sports High School to accommodate a larger number of athletes, Mr. Koutsidis expressed his disagreement, noting that there must be specific selection criteria. As he pointed out, otherwise, “if there are 1,000 applicants, they would all have to be accepted.”

In closing, he said: “I understand what Panteleimon is saying, but there are regulations that all athletes must follow. The Federation was fully aware of everything. We sent a letter on April 10 informing them about this specific race.”