The Plenum of the Parliament approved the budget of the Cyprus Sports Organization (CSO) for 2022 with 46 votes for and one against.
The budget was voted against by DIKO MP Chrysanthos Savvidis, while the issue of the construction of the new stadium in Limassol and the issue of the good administration of sports federations was strongly criticised by MPs.
At the same time, the Plenary voted for an amendment by AKEL to freeze half of the funds related to the support of federations to cover their operating costs, so that the necessary parliamentary control can be exercised in order to ensure transparency and good administration of the federations subsidised by the CTO. The amendment was adopted with 30 votes in favour and 17 against.
The budget of the CTO for the financial year 2022 is balanced and provides for expenditure of €47,212,780 and income of the same amount, which will come mainly from state sponsorship (€41,403,600), from privately owned and other sports facilities (€1,050.050), from the National Betting Authority (€2,500,000) and from other sources (€2,259,080).
DIKO MP Chrysanthos Savvidis expressed, among other things, his disappointment with the CTO both for the significant increase in the budget for the new Limassol stadium from €16 million to almost €50 million along with the road and the reduction in capacity. At the same time, he expressed his disappointment that for 15 years €3 million had not been found to build the athletics stadium in Paphos and the sports school. He also said that crumbs are given to refugee non-football clubs.
Limassol MP Andreas Themistocleous said that it is natural that when large-scale projects are carried out in a province it absorbs large amounts of money. At the same time he criticised the significant budget increase for the Limassol stadium, stating that the problems did not arise suddenly, since everyone knew the area and ignored the facts.
DPA MP Alekos Tryfonidis noted the need to support refugee clubs outside football and other sports clubs, while saying that they voted for the AKEL amendment. He said that the issue of funds for the new Limassol stadium should be checked, while the COA should look into the needs of Paphos and other districts. Finally, he called for measures to be taken to stop sexual harassment in sports venues.
EDEK President Marinos Sizopoulos focused on the need for the CTO to strengthen motor sport, in which Cyprus used to be at the top while recently it has been degraded to a very low level. This, he said, would increase revenue for the Republic and give it huge visibility abroad. He also called for better budget allocation and better regional decentralisation. He also backed the AKEL amendment.
On the stadium in Limassol, he said that the number of seats had been reduced since there was harmonisation with UEFA regulations which were changed in 2018. However, he said that the permit was issued under the 2010 regulations which provided for more seats and no one is obliging us to harmonise with the 2018 regulations. He added that there was an increase in costs due to the underground, the creation of a second large parking area and a second auxiliary stadium.
DIKO MP Chrisis Pantelides said the Limassol stadium issue would be discussed at his initiative in the Audit Committee and called it a poor, sloppy and rushed initial study as the Audit Service found.
AKEL MP Christos Christofides referred to serious problems and shortcomings that have arisen with the CAA such as the need to modernise the CAA's legislation, and the mismanagement and lack of transparency in the sports federation. With the amendment, he said, they are sending a message to the Parliament which wants to exert control and pressure to do what needs to be done. He also spoke about a scandal with hourly staff who was upgraded to an A8 position while being a member of the Board of Directors of the COA. He also said that the issue of the Limassol stadium should be discussed as soon as possible.
DISY MP Onoufrios Koula said that for the first time the CTO has made a code of good governance and is trying to impose it on the Federations. On the Limassol stadium, he said that it was a universal demand of all Limassol's stakeholders and MPs and very rightly the Government decided that there should be one stadium and not three, as there was a demand for it to be. Regarding the cost of the stadium, he said that a preliminary estimate is one thing and offers are another and that some things cannot be calculated beforehand.
Regarding refugee clubs, he said that last year, for the first time, a budget of 1.5 million euros was included in the CTO's budget for this issue. At the same time he mentioned a case of a champion who was professionally reinstated by the CMO and did an excellent job in the CMO, and said that either we will be in favour of the professional reinstatement of our champions or when something comes up we will say that it is a scandal.
Source: CNA
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