Sports reporter Demetris Demetriou died on Monday at the age of 65.

The Union of Cyprus Journalists expressed sorrow over the loss of the “senior journalist in the field of sports reporting” and “second generation sports editor, son of emblematic sports reporter Andreas Pafitis”.

Demetris Demetriou, the union said, died on Monday at 5.25am after a long battle with cancer.

During his career, Demetriou was an active member of the Union of Cyprus Sports Reporters, which described him as “a huge figure in our country’s sports journalism and a beautiful and above all authentic person”.

Demetriou had joined the Union of Cyprus Journalists in 1985 and had served as vice president of the Union of Cyprus Sports Reporters from 2001 till 2018.

In 1981, Demetriou started work at Simerini in Athens and returned to Cyprus in 1983 where he joined the reporting team of Simerini. A few years later, he was transferred to the sports department and later served as its editor in chief.

He also worked for Radio Proto and in 1999 joined Politis as editor in chief of the sports department until 2020.

Politis said in a statement that even after his retirement, Demetriou continued to support the newspaper.