Justice Minister Anna Procopiou said on Friday that children should defend the values of fair play, as football is a sport that promotes health and noble competition, and not “war”.

Speaking at a Nicosia private school on prevention of violence in sports, Procopiou called on children to defend the value of mutual of respect, during a match against others.

The Minister noted that from the very first month of assuming her duties last March, she found herself in the very unpleasant position of having to face, as minister and political head of the police, the violent incidents that occurred during a basketball game at the Tassos Papadopoulos Eleftheria Stadium.

As a new government, she said, this fact particularly troubled the ministry and forced them to act immediately and plan for the first time, a holistic approach that has as its main pillars, in addition to repression, prevention, awareness, enlightenment and education as and the active involvement of civil society.

“We invest a lot in you, the future generation, which is called to fix our mistakes and omissions, and not to continue them,” she said.