The unpaid tax debts of the football clubs are causing endless embarrassment to the government, which is paying for its inept handling of the matter. President Christodoulides, who made it be known a week ago that he had told the head of the Tax Department to prosecute the clubs that had failed to make payments by the end of year deadline, appears to be getting cold feet.
On Tuesday evening he publicly censured Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou for naming the club that was due to appear in court the following day for a €2.3m debt to the Social Insurance Fund for the 2020-22 period. It was a “mistake” to name the one club, said the president, as other clubs were also due to appear in court. Panayiotou and the government had been vilified by the Apoel board and fans who took great exception to the naming of the club by the minister.
Apoel directors, who have been knowingly breaking the laws of the country for years, who repeatedly signed repayment agreements with the state that they never honoured, and who have snubbed the ultra-generous rescue package offered by the government, are in no position to offer lessons on correct behaviour. That Christodoulides showed sensitivity to the feelings of the law-breakers and had a public dig at his minister to appease them, is indicative of the government’s unwillingness to show some moral fortitude. Even Panayiotou declared that he had made a mistake in naming Apoel in a television appearance of Wednesday, as if this was the issue.
Finance Minister Makis Keravnos, meanwhile, indicated on Wednesday that the tough line taken by the president the previous week could still soften. He said that regarding the tax dues of the clubs to the state, the government’s position cannot change, as there had been no progress after the effort made to settle the matter. He was referring to the scandalous scheme by which the state would raise the tax on betting and use the extra revenue generated to pay off the total debts of €31.5m to the state. The only condition was that the clubs would have paid other tax debts totalling €4.1m by the end of 2024, which they did not.
But Keravnos did not close the door on the matter. He said he hoped “wiser thinking would prevail so that, even at the last minute, there would be a response,” by the clubs. He was giving them another chance even though they failed to meet the payment deadline he had set. How long the “last minute” would be extended he did not say, but it was clear that the government is reluctant to turn the screw, despite its rhetoric. If it does, and takes the clubs to court, what would this mean for the finance ministry which issued certificates of settlement of tax debts, so the clubs could play in European competitions?
The government is paying the price for trusting the football club directors, men who had conclusively proved that they cannot be trusted; men who are still spending money on new players while refusing to pay their dues to the state. They behave in this recklessly, irresponsible way, thieving from the taxpayer because governments are terrified of enforcing the law and alienating the football fans. The Christodoulides government is no exception.
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