An officer was injured during the Limassol Apollon – AEL derby on Sunday night which had to be postponed for safety reasons after fans of both teams started throwing rocks and firecrackers on the pitch.
Police said on Monday that before the match was expected to start at 7pm, they arrested a 20-year-old who was caught with three torches in his possession during checks at the entrance.
Then, shortly after 6 pm, AEL fans threw firecrackers on the pitch damaging stands and seats, while during the departure of the Apollon players after their warm-up, they threw concrete chucks from the damaged stand.
Police called officials of the two teams to the operations centre and after showing footage of the incidents on CCTV, jointly informed the referee that for safety reasons the match could not go ahead.
Upon hearing the announcement, fans of the two teams started throwing firecrackers and lit torches into the playing area, while in the AEL stand, a pile of seats that had been removed earlier was set on fire. The fire was extinguished by the fire service.
Later, shortly after 8pm outside the stadium, fans of both teams attacked police with stones, molotov cocktails and flares. Police said they used teargas and the water-cannon ‘Aiantas’ to regain control.
One officer was hit by a flare and was taken to Limassol general hospital where he was treated for a burn on the chest. He was provided first aid and discharged.
Elsewhere departing fans of the two teams damaged four cars parked in the vicinity by throwing Molotov cocktails, flares and stones. They also damaged three properties and set fire to three rubbish bins which were destroyed.
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