With the Cyprus football season entering its play-off stage, top-flight clubs are preparing for a lucrative qualification spot in European competition.
Six teams are to fight it out for a golden ticket to the Champions League next season while three spots are up for grabs for the second-tier UEFA Europa League.
Topflight teams boosted their budgets at the beginning of the season aiming to add quality to their squads for a spot at Europe’s top table which is where the money is.
With budgets raised, the only way to sustain them is to profit from European competition such as the Champions League and the Europa League.
A Cypriot team participating in the group stages of the Champions League can pocket around €15-20 mln.
APOEL FC being the team with the most appearances in the CL group stage has a budget the dwarfs the rest of the Cyprus league.
The 28-times Cyprus champions have made tens of millions from participation in European group and knock-out stages over the past decade.
Participation in the Europa League can also bring serious cash for a Cypriot team if they make it at least to the group stage, which would see them generate €7-8 mln which is half of what a team would earn by qualifying for the equivalent UCL stage.
This might well be the last season that Cypriot teams can qualify for the Europa League as UEFA will introduce a third tournament with even lower cash prizes than the other two existing tournaments.
Cyprus was overtaken by Greece this year, dropping to 16th place, which means that, at least for the season 2021-22, Cyprus will see its champions playing in the Champions League qualifiers, while another three teams (second, third and the Cup winner) qualifying for the third tournament.
Cypriot league winner for the 2020-21 season will start its campaign from the second preliminary round of the Champions League, having to work its way to the playoffs, before reaching the group stage.
The other three teams will kick-off their European campaign from the second preliminary round of the third tournament to be introduced.
Omonia Nicosia currently leads the table on 43 points, the same as Anorthosis Famagusta.
They are followed by 7 times in a row champions APOEL on 39 points, and Apollon Limassol with 38.
AEK Larnaca is fifth with 35 points followed by AEL Limassol only accumulating 31 points in the regular season.
The six teams play each other home and away starting Saturday.
