Cyprus football among Europe’s most untrustworthy

Eight out of ten Cypriots believe Cyprus football’s credibility is tarnished by collusion, fixed games and bad refereeing, placing it among the least trustworthy in Europe.

According to a survey on behalf of the Cyprus Footballers’ Association (PASP), 80% of people polled said they found Cyprus football untrustworthy.

Compared to the best leagues in Europe, Cypriot football comes nowhere near the trust status of the Premier League and Germany’s Bundesliga.

Both the German topflight and England’s Premier league enjoy the vote of confidence of home fans, as nine out of ten say their national league is trustworthy.

And 82% of football fans in Spain feel the La Liga can be trusted.

In addition, the survey – involving 1,044 people — showed that Cypriots fans consider the Cyprus game as di8shonest as the championship in Greece, tarnished by frequent match-fixing scandals and bad refereeing.

Fans in Cyprus overwhelmingly (86%) believe there is a lot wrong with Cypriot football, pointing to a huge problem with fixed matches, rigging and arbitration.

When asked to rate the issues tarnishing the game’s reputation on a scale of one to ten, participants rated collusion first at 8.04, rigged games with 7.75, and bad refereeing with 7.71.

Cypriot fans believe the sport is plagued by political interventions, with fans rating the issue with 7.38.

Bad infrastructure (6.53) was another factor undermining the sport.

Most fans said they did not trust the Cyprus Football Association, with an 83% vote of no confidence.

Eight of ten said they had no faith in Cypriot refereeing (79%).

But 68% of fans said they did trust their club’s board.

The survey also revealed that the majority of football fans were men (61%), while a high percentage of women were also engaged in the sport (39%).

However, almost nine out of ten fans (89%) said they support equal pay between men and women athletes representing their nation, regardless of the sport.