The chairman of Ermis Aradippou, Loucas Fanieros, has hit back at accusations that his team are being sponsored by a casino in the Turkish occupied north of the island.
Spectators and television viewers were left baffled on Wednesday night after seeing Larnaca football club Ermis secure a 2-0 victory over AEK Larnaca and a historic berth in the Cyprus Coca-Cola Cup semifinals whilst wearing jersey’s with ‘Pasha Casino’ emblazoned on their sleeves.
Fanieros dismissed suggestions that he had entered into a deal with the casino which is situated in the Turkish-held area of Nicosia and that the casino in question was in Bulgaria and that he had the sponsorship deal documents to prove it. He further hit out at the media accusing them of “making something out of nothing” and of “never having mentioned the previous ‘Say No To Drugs’ logo strip on the team jersey”.
But according to contradictory media reports in the Turkish Cypriot press from this week, Ermis did recently strike a deal with the casino in the north and, in particular, with Turkish-Cypriot businessman Ali Basman who, apart from the being the major shareholder of Grand Pasha which runs the Pashia casino, is also the club chairman of Turkish-Cypriot football team Kucuk Kaymakli.
The media reports in the north went on to say that the deal also secured advertisements strips for the same casino to be shown on the Ermis team shorts for next season with Basman reportedly confident that the Aradippou club will qualify for European football in the summer.
According to its official website, the Pasha Casino is “the finest casino in Northern Cyprus where quality and service can be experienced with high limited gaming tables and the newest slot machines”.
Cyprus Weekly
Cyprus Weekly
