Issues related to sports were examined today during the meetings chaired by the President of the Republic, Mr.Nicos Anastasiades, at the Presidential Palace.
In a statement to journalists after the meetings, Government Spokesman Marios Pelekanos said that "the President of the Republic had a series of meetings today with relevant bodies on issues relating to sport, the governance of federations and stadium facilities.
The first meeting concerned the Code of Good Governance. During this meeting the issue of the implementation of the Code of Good Governance and the need for its swift implementation was discussed at length.
As some of the Federations funded by the CMO refuse to adopt provisions of the Code, the Government will seek to make adoption mandatory through legislation.
On the instructions of the President of the Republic, meetings with parliamentary parties will begin in the next few days in order to complete the process as soon as possible.
The second meeting concerned the stages of athletics. The upgrading of the athletics stadiums was planned.
The decisions taken concern the GSP, as well as the auxiliary stadium, GSZ and GS Korivos whose facilities relating to classical sports will be upgraded gradually, starting from this year, where a budget of 1.7 million will be dedicated for the GSP national stadium and the auxiliary stadium, and 400 thousand for the Stelios Kyriakidis stadium.
The President also agreed that next year's budget will include an amount to cover the needs of the GIZ, given that the relevant studies, designs and permits will be preceded and completed.
The third meeting concerned the football facilities and the need to harmonise them with the requirements of the Stadium Licensing Authority.
It was noted that problems were identified regarding the safety of the stadiums, implementation of provisions of legislation for the prevention and suppression of violence in sports grounds, accessibility for people with disabilities, electromechanical installations and others.
Priority will be given to the three stadiums of Anorthosis, Salamina and Pachna, which present the greatest problems.
It was also decided to formulate a medium and long-term plan for which a comprehensive study is required in the first phase, which will address the issue of football pitches as a whole.
The President of the Republic agreed to finance these studies with an amount of 150 thousand Euros from the state budget and depending on the results of the studies, decisions will be taken on the required upgrades.
The possibility of increasing the betting tax in order to create a fund for the maintenance of the stadium facilities was also discussed.
Next Monday the President will hold a special meeting, at the Presidential Palace, on the Limassol football stadium, which is in its final construction phase and, as confirmed during the meeting, is expected to be delivered within the already announced timeframes.
I would like to thank all the relevant stakeholders who participated in today's meetings for the creative discussion.
The President will continue to show the same interest and will continue to monitor developments regarding the progress of the decisions taken today."
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