Criminal prosecutions are currently underway for debts owed by football clubs to the social insurance fund, Minister of Labour Yiannis Panayiotou said on Wednesday.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting on the matter Panayiotou sought to clarify that procedures for repayment of debts to the social security fund are not the same as those for income tax debt.

Legislation governing the collection of debts for social security differs from that governing tax collections and does not provide the scope for extended settlement.

As per the law, the obligation of each employer is to pay his employees’ contributions every month, covering the employees on the payroll at that time, Panayiotou explained.

If delays are detected the social security services issue appropriate notifications and if overdue contributions are not received, this activates the initiation of criminal prosecutions against the debtors.

Any debtor who does not meet his obligations is subject to the provisions of the legislation and is brought before the courts, the minister said. There is no possibility of exempting any debtor from the obligation to pay social security contributions.

The criminal prosecution can only be withdrawn if the reason for its activation ceases to exist, that is, if the debt is paid. Failing this, the judge will decide accordingly on penalties to be imposed, through a court procedure.

The minister said that criminal prosecutions are currently underway, as well as cases not yet started because the debts are more recent.

Individual citizens, companies and legal entities all face the same procedures before the law due to accumulated social security debts, Panayiotou underscored.

Last month football clubs had come under scrutiny after it was revealed that they owed a backlog of tax payments, as well as social security contributions for their players.

Apoel is expected to reappear in court on March 4 for debts totalling €2.3m. The club stands accused of deducting social security amounts from employees’ pay checks without transferring the money to the state.