January 17 – Cypriot nationwide participant Elena Aristodimou (pictured) has sharply criticised the Cyprus Soccer Federation for its angle in direction of ladies’s soccer within the nation and the dearth of any growth in the previous couple of years.
Aristodimou, a Swiss Sion participant, used social media to disclose surprising particulars about ladies’s soccer in Cyprus. The Cypriot Footballers’ Affiliation (PASP) stated that Aristodimou was topic to sexual harassment and that it had reported this to the Cyprus Soccer Federation, however there has at present been no growth on the matter.
“The Cyprus Footballers’ Affiliation confirms that it was approached a couple of days in the past by a feminine footballer, who revealed that she had been a sufferer of sexual harassment and requested the affiliation’s help and safety,” stated a PASP assertion.
“The feminine footballer needs, at this stage, to stay nameless and to be told concerning the safety and assist mechanisms that the sports activities authorities have established. PASP. has addressed the CFA, requesting their cooperation and help. Given the seriousness of the matter, PASP doesn’t think about it applicable to have interaction in any public dialogue.”
Just a few days later Aristodimou criticised the Cyprus Soccer Federation for the state of girls’s soccer in Cyprus and revealed particulars about what is occurring within the nation’s nationwide crew.
Aristodimou posting in full:
“Speaking benefit of current occasions in Cyprus – it’s greater than apparent that ladies’s soccer right here lacks the eye and assist it deserves from the Federation. The gamers present up and provides their all, however how can we actually carry out at a “skilled degree” with out correct backing. It’s incomprehensible that the Cyprus League has had solely six groups for 3 consecutive seasons, and now there’s simply 4 groups earlier than the season even ends,” stated Aristodimou.
“We’re in 2025 – a time when ladies’s soccer is prospering globally: stadiums are packed, gamers are celebrated as position fashions, jerseys are promoting out, hundreds of thousands are delivering to look at video games on TV, groups turning income and academies are growing skilled gamers. But, in Cyprus, we’re struggling to maintain ladies’s soccer alive.
“For starters, there’s zero promotion for ladies’s soccer in Cyprus. Exhibiting one sport on TV per week shouldn’t be promotion. There are not any posts, no ads, no effort to lift consciousness concerning the Girls’s League.
“As for the Nationwide Staff, the few video games aired on TV are proven on non-public channels requiring subscription or pay-per-view charges. There isn’t a promotion on social media or TV about Girls’s Nationwide Staff matches. In distinction, the most effective video games in ladies’s soccer; (just like the Girls’s Champions League) are broadcasted without cost. How will you encourage folks to assist ladies’s soccer when there’s no real try and put it on the market? And how will you anticipate us to carry out at our greatest for our nation once we really feel neither appreciated nor supported?
“I’ve been a part of the Girls’s Nationwide Staff since I used to be 16 years previous. It’s been seven years, and I’ve by no means worn a jersey that matches my measurement. We’ve used the identical garments for years and have worn a distinct model than Males’s Nationwide Staff for simply as lengthy.
“When our Nationwide Staff performs overseas, we at all times endure journey instances of 13+ hours as a result of by some means, there’s by no means a greater flight possibility. In a single occasion, earlier than a sport in opposition to Georgia on 04/046/2024, we traveled the day earlier than the match. In one other camp, the crew needed to break up into two teams and take separate flights. How can we carry out at our bodily greatest once we’re exhausted and lack correct restoration assets after touring?
“Lastly, in month’s time, the Girls’s Nationwide Staff could have official Nations League matches. But, we haven’t performed any pleasant sport in opposition to different Nationwide Staff to organize. How we will be prepared once we lack the assist wanted to organise coaching camps and aggressive matches?
“In all of the years I’ve been a part of the Nationwide Staff and performed within the Cyprus league, I’ve seen no actual change past empty phrases. The gamers proceed to point out up as a result of we low the sport and wish to signify our nation. The least you possibly can do is to point out us the respect we deserve.
“And the larger query stays: what about all of the younger women taking part in in academies? Will they be compelled to cease? The place will they play once they develop up?”
Contact the author of this story, Aleksander Krassimirov, at moc.l1737145969labto1737145969ofdlr1737145969owedi1737145969sni@o1737145969fni1737145969