By Andrew Warshaw
March 7 – Cyprus Football Association president Costakis Koutsokoumnis, who fought to build bridges on the divided island by trying to unify football and sought to eliminate matchfixing, has died aged 61 after a long battle with cancer.
Only last April, Koutsokoumnis, who ran Cypriot football for 17 years, gained a seat on the FIFA Council as a UEFA representative and was a member of several other bodies.
To suggest Koutsokoumnis split opinion in Cyprus is something of an understatement. At one point he was expelled from his beloved APOEL Nicosia for daring to talk to the Turkish-controlled north, with one nationalistic banner calling him ‘TURKOKOUMNIS’.
But such criticism didn’t faze Koutsokoumnis who did his best to use football as a tool for change, taking an even-handed approach and recognising that both sides of the island had suffered.
In 2013, he signed an historic provisional agreement with his Turkish-Cypriot counterpart Hassan Sertoglu (pictured left with Koutsokoumnis), the first between the north and south after 58 years of separation.
The deal rattled politicians on both sides of the island but Koutsokoumnis was determined to press ahead even though he conceded it would take time before Greek and Turkish Cypriot teams could play in a unified league.
Koutsokoumnis’ efforts to introduce sweeping measures to eliminate matchfixing also produced unwanted repercussions. Protests against his leadership included bomb attacks on his property which he suspected were the work of underworld figures involved in rigging games.
Among the tributes paid to Koutsokoumnis was one from FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
“There’s no word that can express how sorry and sad I am to hear about the passing away of Costakis Koutsokoumnis,” said Infantino.
“As a football lover, he has dedicated a large part of his life to our beautiful game, and we had the chance to have his competences to help us within the FIFA Council since last year. I can only regret this journey together has been far too short.”
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades described Koutsokoumis as “one of the pillars of Cypriot football.”
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