Top Cypriot athletes honoured

Cypriot track and field athletes, Kyriakos Ioannou and Eleni Artimata, are the top Cypriot sports personalities on the island and APOEL football club was named team of the year for 2009, according to a poll conducted by the Union of Sports Writers.

The awards were presented at a special ceremony on Thursday evening by President of the Republic Demetris Christofias, in the presence of members of the Cabinet, members of the House of Representatives, political party representatives, athletes, sports writers and other dignitaries.

During the ceremony, President Christofias also presented awards to coach Panos Markovic and Greek basketball player Frangiskos Alvertis for their contribution to sports. The two expressed their gratitude for the awards.

The Cyprus Olympic Committee was honoured for the excellent hosting of the XIII Games of the Small States of Europe held in June 2009. Its chairman, Ouranios Ioannides, said that 2009 was a golden year for sports and will lay the foundation for success for the years to come.

Last night’s ceremony was dedicated to volunteers. The 730 volunteers of the GSSE games were honoured for their contribution as well as sports writer Iakovos Kakouris for the running of the GSSE press office.

In a speech, President Christofias said the athletes who were presented awards during the ceremony, are the perfect ambassadors of Cyprus.

However, he said, last year’s sports victories were, to some extent, overshadowed by incidents of violence and hooliganism. The President called on Cypriot society to work towards alleviating this problem.

President Christofias said the state has a multifaceted role in the sports field on the island. “We want our sports people to have morals and values and to be distinguished for their high sense of social responsibility”, he concluded.