Larnaca football mob wrecks stadium while closed-door game underway elsewhere

A mob of football hooligans overnight on Thursday caused thousands of euros of damages to the Nikos Solomonides indoor stadium in Larnaca. The violence occurred around 8pm while a closed-door match was underway between AEL and Apollon at the A

By: cyprus-mail.com

Jan 03 2025
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Larnaca football mob wrecks st

A mob of football hooligans overnight on Thursday caused thousands of euros of damages to the Nikos Solomonides indoor stadium in Larnaca.

The violence occurred around 8pm while a closed-door match was underway between AEL and Apollon at the Alphamega stadium, guarded by police.

The mob of Apollon fans gathered at their team’s indoor stadium and made their way next door to the Nikos Solomonides stadium, entering the building through an open side door, police reported. There the hooligans proceeded to smash the team’s trophy cases and sports equipment and destroy clothing and other equipment.

“The match had been evaluated as high risk by police which is why it was played without spectators in the first place and why 182 police officers were assigned to guard the peace. These episodes don’t honour anyone,” police spokeswoman Kyriaki Lambrianidou told the CyBC’s Friday morning programme.

Lambrianidou added that investigations are in full swing to identify and punish as many perpetrators as possible.

As well as the destruction of property, a naval flare had been lobbed, narrowly missing a police officer and hitting his motorcycle instead, Lambrianidou said, adding that flares and Molotovs “can kill”.

The flare had been thrown while the bus carrying Apollon players travelled to the stadium for the game.

Police are interrogating suspects and witnesses, and evidence from CCTV is expected to yield arrests later in the day, she said.