“THE EIGHT” – A STATEMENT

The group of non-board stakeholders who had expressed interest in taking over APOEL have issued a statement expressing their position following the breakdown in negotiations 

“We feel compelled to speak with complete honesty about what is unfolding, because the future of APOEL cannot be sacrificed on the altar of cover-ups, personal interests, and distortion of reality. We stated our “inability” to take on the enormous debts created by the Petrides administration, which continue to grow.

Our plan first and foremost involved the full repayment of the club’s overdue obligations to the state, with the ultimate goal of ending the humiliation of APOEL in the courts—something that does not befit the club’s history—followed by settling the debts owed to players and the technical staff by the end of the current season. At the same time, this would be followed by a drastic reduction of the budget, in order to achieve a balanced budget for the new season and the years to come.

Furthermore, we demanded the immediate release of the club’s television revenues from the extremely unfavourable contracts which the current administration chose to burden APOEL’s future with. We stress that any other liabilities to third parties that were requested to be settled could not—at this stage—be a priority or a matter for negotiation. We did not accept the attempt to present the collapse of a board that led APOEL to financial, institutional and organisational deadlock as a “heroic departure.” On the contrary, a clear and thorough investigation is needed into the financial downfall and the responsibilities of those who brought APOEL to this state.

We cannot silently accept that the person primarily responsible for the current situation should walk away with honours, handshakes, and a “statement” that absolves him. Nor can we sign any “confidentiality agreement.” APOEL is not a tool for cover-ups. And we will not tolerate this resounding failure being turned into a political success story. We are not prepared to build APOEL’s future on lies, evasions, and impunity.

Anyone who believes we will sign away responsibilities is gravely mistaken. If they truly want an exit agreement, let them first sign a responsibility agreement: to personally and individually commit to every liability, debt or legal obligation that may arise in the future due to their mismanagement.

Our only desire is what is best for APOEL—and nothing else.

We sincerely hope that Prodromos Petrides’ administration manages to get APOEL out of the financial deadlock which it itself caused.

Alexis Andreou, Christos Triantafyllides, Giorgos Georgiou, Yiannis Demetriou, Andys Polydorou, Panayiotis Georgiou, Theodoros Kyriakides, Marios Athanasiou”