Freedom of the press is “on the slide” in Cyprus, MP Alexandra Attalides said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a House institutions committee meeting which focused on the withdrawing of an award to a journalist who had uncovered corruption in Cypriot football, Attalides, who belongs to political party Volt, said the level of freedom Cyprus’ press enjoys may “sink even further” after this case.

“Democracies are at risk when the rich and the powerful can silence their critics just because they raise their voices on matters of public interest,” she added.

Committee chairman and Disy MP Demetris Demetriou said sports journalism in Cyprus finds itself “in limbo”, and issued scathing criticism in the direction of the sports journalists’ union chairman Herodotos Miltiadous, who had given and then retracted the award.

“You did not just cancel the award. In my opinion, you cancelled people’s dignity, You cancelled free speech and freedom of the press and of the people the awards’ jury chose to honour. You cancelled the work which is being done. You cancelled the courage of colleagues to continue writing or to do investigative journalism,” he said.

Miltiadous insisted that the award had not been retracted out of a wish to silence the press, but after his association had received legal advice.

“Our board of directors is made up of journalists, not lawyers, so it is obliged when legal issues are brought to its attention to seek the advice and guidance of experts,” he said.

He added, “the award was not cancelled, but our legal advisor’s opinion was adopted. He considered that there were issues of a legal nature and that for the association’s best interest, the award be handed out at a later stage.”

The journalist whose award was revoked, Fanis Makrides, had been the subject of a letter sent by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) in October, wherein the association expressed “surprise and displeasure” at the award.

The CFA had alleged that Makrides’ work had been defamatory and said it “rejected” the content of the work in which he had written that corruption was to be found deep at the heart of the CFA.

After the award was withdrawn, the Cyprus journalists’ union decried what it described as “unfair interference”, and said the CFA’s actions were “reprehensible”, “anachronistic” and “antidemocratic”.

“The suspension of Makrides’ award, following the unimaginable intervention made by the CFA, is a disgrace to freedom of expression, the plurality of opinions and the freedom of the press,” the union said, while also lamenting that the sports writers’ union had “given in to CFA pressure”.

“Free, investigative, penetrating, quality journalism must be left unhindered and unabated to fulfil its role and carry out its mission,” it said, adding that Makrides has its full support.

“For free investigative journalism, there are no sacred cows, nor anything else which is allowed to remain away from the line of fire.”

Koumas had been accused, among other things, of having created an “unfair advantage” for some clubs by way of manipulating the money paid to them as part of television rights deals.

“Teams received money in violation of agreements … in such a way as to create an unfair advantage in favour of some clubs,” Makrides reported last year.

This includes an accusation that money paid to the CFA by CytaVision for television rights to domestic Cypriot football matches “was distributed by the CFA, in time and quantity, according to the will of Giorgos Koumas”.

“It is also noted that he received CytaVision’s millions from the television agreements and sponsorship on behalf of the teams and distributed them as he wanted,” the accusations state. “There were occasions where CytaVision money was given on the instructions of [Koumas] in violation of the agreements made with the clubs,” Makrides’ report said.

In addition, Koumas was accused of having granted a bonus of €200,000 to one club “without reasonable cause”, and that this bonus was granted while the club in question was participating in games surrounded by “suspicious betting activity”.