A deafening silence continues to surround the case of former Cyprus Football Association (CFA) president George Koumas. For the past two years, a criminal investigation has been under way into a possible professional incompatibility; in effect, a conflict of interest. In that time, sweeping allegations have circulated, from claims of match manipulation to “rigged” championships. Are any of these assertions grounded? Are they even part of the formal inquiry?
An investigation that drags on
The prolonged and, critics say, unjustified delay in concluding the probe is fuelling reasonable doubts. The criminal investigator, former senior district judge Alexandra Lykourgou, delivered her report to Attorney General George Savvides five months ago. Yet there is still no decision on whether Koumas will be charged. Why the holdup? Is the case being allowed to fade from view because doing so suits some interests?
The criminal investigation was opened after the Attorney General reviewed a 10 October 2023 dossier sent by the Ethics and Sports Protection Committee, prepared by lawyers Ilias Stefanou and Efthymios Th. Efthymiou. Two years and one week have now passed since that referral.
The potential incompatibility concerns Koumas’s role as a CFA official alongside his business activities over the past two decades in sports broadcasting rights, the production of sports TV content, and the representation and promotion of athletes and clubs.
Key facts flagged to Parliament by the Audit Office
Koumas first entered the CFA’s leadership in 2003, elected to the board as assistant secretary-general. In 2007 he became CFA vice-president, a post he held until the 2018 elections, when he became president. He remained in office until June this year, when he resigned under the weight of the ongoing criminal probe.
From 2015, the CFA concluded financial agreements with Cyta granting broadcast rights for certain Cypriot club matches. During the same period, while serving as CFA vice-president, Koumas personally contracted with Cyta for broadcast rights to foreign football.
Between 2013 and 2019, companies linked to Koumas also provided services tied to Cypriot football, including live match production and channel playout/continuity for Cytavision. Consequently, between 2015 and 2019, Cyta simultaneously had a rights agreement with the CFA for domestic matches and service agreements with Koumas for work directly related to Cypriot football.
How much longer?
How many more years will it take to clarify these issues?
Police spokesman Christos Andreou has previously confirmed that Koumas’s business dealings with Cyta were the subject of two earlier criminal investigations, neither of which found evidence of wrongdoing. The current probe is the third and has already outlasted the inquiry into Cyprus’s financial collapse.
The activities of the CFA’s once-most-powerful figure who, by many accounts, still pulls strings have repeatedly made headlines, and the possible conflict of interest has been debated in parliamentary committees. In the interest of transparency and public accountability, we call on Attorney General George Savvides to inform citizens why the investigation into George Koumas has not yet been concluded and when a decision on prosecution will be made.