Papastavrou takes over Omonia

It is not quite clear what Cyprus football is worth as there is no transparency when it comes to how much teams spend in order to build competitive squads, nor what they are earning. Teams’ representatives were reluctant to give out information on their yearly budgets, hiding behind the justification of ‘data protection’, adding to further suspicion surrounding the dealings of Cyprus teams and the tolerance of international football bodies (UEFA, FIFA) as regards their financial status.

According to German-based Transfermarkt, a leading international agency monitoring transfers, fees, players and teams’ values, the squads of the six top teams of the Cyprus first division are estimated to be worth around EUR 88 million. This does not mean that the clubs have spent that amount to build their teams, but is the sum of their players’ worth at the moment.

Money spent by the island’s six top teams (APOEL, Apollonas, AEK, Anorthosis, Omonia and AEL) on their squads is estimated at EUR 34 mln, aiming at a shot at the local league title and the national cup. APOEL alone has spent some EUR 14 mln for its football division for the 201617 season, leaving Apollon Limassol to follow with a budget of 5.5 mln. The other four teams which completed the Championship group for this year have budgets ranging from 2.5 mln to 4 mln. However, some teams, such as Omonia FC, are paying a heavy price for old debt owed mainly to the state. The ‘Greens’ have paid an estimated EUR 1.5 mln against old debts, adding to the 3.5 mln spent on this year’s squad, breaking even as they claim to have an income of around EUR 5 mln, according to estimates given at the recent general assembly.

Omonia have found themselves in dire straits, as over the past decade they have accumulated an overwhelming EUR 16.8 mln in debt as the club’s outgoing president Antonis

After an intense electoral general assembly, Omonia Nicosia have turned a new leaf in their 70year history. The club’s fans and members have voted in the full list of candidates proposed by Loris Kyriacou who is in favour of handing over the management of the football team to a company to be set up by New York based Cypriot investor Stavros Papastavrou.

Tzionis admitted at the members’ general assembly on Wednesday. The once fierce club with the biggest fan base nearly two decades ago, has accumulated the debt after bad management by the boards elected by the fans.

A little less than ten years ago, the Nicosia club’s board headed by developer Miltiades Neophytou, raised the team’s budget to unimaginable, at the time, levels. During the 20082012 period when the Neophytou administration was in place, Omonia had an annual budget that peaked at EUR 15 mln, with some reports even raising that to 20 mln. Big names from the international football scene had been recruited by the Greens, from the likes of Lomana Lua Lua to Greek Cypriot super stars Yiannakis Okkas and Michalakis Constantinou. Each of these players were awarded annual salaries over half a mln euros. The dire situation which the club has found itself in, has led the members to opt to hand over the team to New York-based investor Stavros Papastavrou who is to set up a company to handle Omonia’s

Papastavrou had offered to take over the management of the football team for 10+5+5 years in return, amongst others, for an injection of EUR 1.5 mln for the club to pass the UEFA financial criteria in June and invest a further 5 mln in the company to be named Omonia Football Ltd.

Omonia FC is also to receive annual fees for the commercial exploitation of the club’s brand.

football affairs.

Omonia, under the leadership of Miltiades Neophytou, had poured in this money to fulfill the fans’ dream of reaching the group stages of a European tournament, and essentially earning back the money spent. However, things did not work out as the club board had hoped for.

But it is not only Omonia that is in a difficult financial situation.

Teams competing for the local championship find themselves depending on money coming in from the European tournaments. Cyprus’ top six teams build their squads aiming at prize money from taking part in the European tournaments, mainly the Champions League, and