A particularly honorable moment for the Cyprus Sports Writers’ Association (EAK) and the Panhellenic Sports Press Association (PSAT) was the presentation of awards by the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Nicos Christodoulides, and the Cyprus Sports Organization (CSO) to two historic figures from both organizations, on the occasion of the event marking 40 years of sports cooperation between Greece and Cyprus.
The event, which took place at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia on the evening of Wednesday, September 16, 2026, and was organized by the Cyprus Sports Organization (KOA), was attended by the President of the Republic, the Minister of Education Dr. Athina Michaelidou, members of the government, KOA President Yiannis Ioannou, the Greek Minister of Sports, Yiannis Vroutsis, and the Greek Secretary General of Sports, Giorgos Mavrotas, honored were the honorary president of the EAK, Zacharias Kyriakou, and the current secretary-general of the PSAT and long-time president of the Greek association, Yiannis Theodorakopoulos.
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The two honorees were recognized for their efforts and contributions to the creation of the Sports Protocol in the 1980s, through the EAK-PSAT Conferences.
In the KOA’s introductory video on the Sports Cooperation Protocol, as well as through the event’s host and EAK member, George Meletiou, the decisive contribution of EAK and PSAT to the creation of the Protocol was highlighted.
In 1982, the first EAK-PSAT Conference was held at the then-Ledra Hotel (later Hilton Park, now the Hilton) in Nicosia, while the 2nd Conference took place in 1983 at the Grande Bretagne Hotel in Athens. These Conferences, as well as those that followed, laid the groundwork for the implementation of the Sports Protocol between the two countries.
In his speech, the President of the Republic described the signing of the first Sports Protocol in 1986 as “an act of the utmost national and social significance.” As he noted, cooperation between the two countries in sports is now entering “a new, more dynamic era,” in part through the transformation of the bilateral agreement into a Sports Cooperation Protocol.
At the event, which was attended by the president of the EAK and a large number of the organization’s members, the establishment of a National Sports Council was also announced; this council will prepare a comprehensive proposal for the creation of a Deputy Ministry of Sports, while Mr. Christodoulides further announced that funding for the training of Cypriot athletes in preparation for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles would be doubled.
